Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the split infinitive as an issue in grammar and style. This is a half-page document with a reading of four sentences and three comprehension questions.
At this point, I’ve read a sufficient number of grammar manuals which have argued, to my satisfaction, that splitting an infinitive is not only permissible, but even necessary in some instances to specify meaning. Even the Modern Language Association (MLA) has said that split infinitives are “generally” allowed. Nonetheless, as the reading in this worksheet observes, “Some people consider it poor style, or even incorrect style, to split an infinitive.” I expect there are educators somewhere who counsel students to avoid split infinitives. When I worked in three different college writing centers in the 1990s, occasionally a student would wander in with a paper in which their professor had issued the imperative “avoid split infinitives!” The first question these students raised was “What is a split infinitive?”
Hence this worksheet.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
Mark's Text Terminal 
You must be logged in to post a comment.