SAT Prep - Writing

Infinitives are special verbs that do not act as verbs.  They can act as nouns, as adjectives, or as adverbs, depending on their role in the sentence.

Infinitives are formed by taking the word "to" + the simple present tense of the verb

• To eat
• To jump
• To sit
• To dance

It is an error to split infinitives.  Splitting infinitives means putting a word in between the "to" and the verb:

• To quickly eat
• To slowly jump
• To happily sit
• To jauntily dance

Each of these examples is a split infinitive and is not correct.  Instead, they should read:

• To eat quickly
• To jump slowly
• To sit happily
• To dance jauntily

Here is an example of an infinitive error that you may encounter when completing Identifying Sentence Error questions:
It (A) is dangerous to (B) the digestive system to quickly eat (C), and you could (D) potentially choke on your food.  No Error. (E)
Choice C contains an infinitive error.  The infinitive "to eat" is split- it should read "to eat quickly"
Choice A is not an error.  "It" is the correct pronoun here.
Choice B is not an error.  "To" is the correct preposition here.
Choice D is not an error.  "You could" is the proper conditional form, and since we have not begun in the third person it is acceptable to use "you"