JKBelieve  +  402462 Thu, 09 Aug 07 03:37 PM   "I pray for this not to happen"             OR              "I pray for this to not happen" which one works better? Thanx ^^ JKBelieve Joined on Thu, Nov 25 2004 Full Member 278 Reality is what we believe it is - JK

	pieanne  +  402469 Thu, 09 Aug 07 03:48 PM The first one is OK, you don't want to separate "to" and "happen" pieanne Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 South of France ...But I'm Belgian! Veteran Member 7,517 I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

	Believer  +  402741 Fri, 10 Aug 07 08:34 AM Thank you, Pieanne. Can you tell me why we shouldn't separate "to" and "happen"? If that is an infinitive, I think for some splitting an infinitivc is accepted for some reasons.  Believer Joined on Mon, Jan 2 2006 Contributing Member 1,969

	CalifJim  +  402747 Fri, 10 Aug 07 09:03 AM Split infinitives are accepted by some and not by others.  It is almost a matter of personal preference.  My opinion follows, if you're interested. Sometimes you have to split an infinitive because there is no other logical place to put an adverb, and some adverbs sound wrong (to some speakers) when placed before an infinitive.   However, not is such a short adverb that it can easily be placed before the infinitive without sounding awkward, so there's no reason not to place it there except stubborn perversity.  CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,463 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Verbs, Adverbs