1. I only saw the President once.
  2. Such prices are only paid in times of great scarcity.
  3. No man has ever so much wealth that he does not want more.
  4. It seems that the workers can be never aroused.
  5. I want to briefly state the reason for my action.
  6. I shall be glad to help you always.
  7. I only mention a few of the facts.
  8. He nearly walked to town.
  9. We are told that the Japanese chiefly live upon rice.
  10. They expected them to sign a treaty daily.
  11. Having nearly lost all his money he feared again to venture.

ADVERBS AND INFINITIVES

296. You remember when we studied the infinitive in Lesson 9, we found that it was not good usage to split the infinitive; that is, to put the modifying word between to and the verb. For example: We ought to bravely stand for our rights. The correct form of this is: We ought to stand bravely for our rights.

But we have found, also, that common usage breaks down the old rules and makes new rules and laws for itself, and so we frequently find the adverb placed between the infinitive and its sign.

Sometimes it seems difficult to express our meaning accurately in any other way; for example, when we say: To almost succeed is not enough, we do not make the statement as forceful or as nearly expressive of our real idea, if we try to put the adverb almost in any other position. This is also true in such phrases as to far exceed, to more than counterbalance, to fully appreciate, and various other examples which you will readily find in your reading. The purpose of written and spoken language is to express our ideas adequately and accurately.

So we place our words in sentences to fulfill this purpose and not according to any stereotyped rule of grammarians. Ordinarily, though, it would be best not to place the adverb between the infinitive verb and its sign to. Do not split the infinitive unless by so doing you express your idea more accurately.

COMMON ERRORS

297. The position in the sentence of such adverbs as, only, also and merely, depends upon the meaning to be conveyed. The place where these adverbs occur in the sentences, may completely alter the meaning of the sentence. For example:

Only the address can be written on this side. We mean that nothing but the address can be written on this side.

The address can only be written on this side. We mean that the address cannot be printed, but must be written.