[Grammar] Negation of infinitives

[ucetnanic]

Hello,

I have this sentence:

• He pretended to know the answer.

How do I negate the second part of this sentence?

1. He pretended not to know the answer.
2. He pretended to not know the answer.

 

[Richard1]

Hello,

I have this sentence:

• He pretended to know the answer.

How do I negate the second part of this sentence?

1. He pretended not to know the answer.
2. He pretended to not know the answer.

Hi,

Both are fine. I prefer the first but that's purely personal.

As an aside a version which might have been used in the 18th century and previous would be 'He pretended to know not the answer'.

Regards

 

[birdeen's call]

Take a look:
split infinitive - Szukaj w Google

 

[Richard1]

Take a look:
split infinitive - Szukaj w Google

I had hoped we wouldn't get drawn into this argument which probably divides more people than any other aspect of grammar that I can think of.;-)

Rgds

 

[5jj]

I find this one far more natural: He pretended not to know the answer.

And that's not because of the split infinitive - I just think it's the one most people use.

citations: http://www.americancorpus.org/?q=2901330 :
He pretended not to ...: 55
He pretended to not...: 0

 

[orangutan]

I find this one far more natural: He pretended not to know the answer.

I agree with this - this is the natural way of negating most infinitives other than possibly adjuncts.

And that's not because of the split infinitive - I just think it's the one most people use.

To go off at a tangent, what's wrong with split infinitives anyway .

 

[5jj]

To go off at a tangent, what's wrong with split infinitives anyway .

Nothing, in my opinion.

 

[allenman]

In everyday speech you'll hear both. I was trained to say "He pretended not to know the answer" because of the split infinitive rule. In practice, I say both and no one seems to care.

I am not a teacher but want to be one one day.