商务英语邮件写作指导方法：不定式到底能不能拆开来？

　　把不定式分开是否恰当?

　　Most split infinitives follow this model – an adverb is put between “to” and the verb. But you also get compound split infinitives where more than one word is put between “to” and the verb, for example: If they make me a partner I can expect my salary to more than double.

　　大多数不定式拆分遵循以下原则——在“to”和动词之间插一个副词。但是你也会看到复杂的不定式拆分，这时在“to”与动词之间会有一个以上的单词，比方说：如果我有搭档的话，我的工资可能会增加两倍以上。

　　So is it correct English to split infinitives?

　　那么拆分不定式到底行不行得通呢?

　　This has been a subject of debate for many years. Until relatively³ recently the consensus⁴ was that splitting infinitives is not good style. Nowadays, however, most linguists⁵ and grammarians accept that users of English do habitually⁶ split infinitives and therefore it is not wrong to do so. This comes largely as a result of the change from the strict prescriptive approach to grammar to an attitude that says usage should determine rules. Also, there are times when your writing will be more fluent and your meaning will be clearer if you do split an infinitive¹.

　　这个问题已经争论很多年了。直到近期才有统一的意见：拆分不定式并不是很好的语法结构。但是现在大多数语言学家和语法学家承认，使用英语时习惯上会把不定式分开，所以这种用法也不算错。这很大程度上是由句子语法严格规定到实际用法决定规则的转变造成。而且，在不少情况下，拆分不定式会让你写作更流畅、表达的意思也更明确。

　　So, my answer is yes – it is OK to split infinitives.

　　所以我的答案是可以拆分不定式。

分享到：