FAQs about verbs

Is a split infinitive bad grammar?

Although split infinitives were traditionally viewed as ungrammatical, they are now largely viewed as acceptable and are sometimes necessary.

You may want to avoid them where possible in academic or professional environments, as some may still view them negatively, but you don’t need to avoid them entirely. Split infinitives can provide emphasis, and moving the adverb can sometimes result in an ungrammatical or unclear sentence.

For example, in “Gemma asked Kamil to quietly shut the door,” moving “quietly” either results in an awkwardly worded sentence or makes it unclear: does “quietly” refer to the volume of Gemma’s voice or the way she wants Kamil to shut the door?

Read this FAQ: Is a split infinitive bad grammar?

What does it mean to split an infinitive?

A split infinitive is a full infinitive (e.g., “to eat”) that has words (usually adverbs) separating “to” and the verb (e.g., “to noisily eat”).

Split infinitives have traditionally been viewed as ungrammatical, but nowadays they are largely viewed as acceptable and are sometimes necessary.

For example, in “the dentist told Geoff to always brush his teeth before bed,” moving “always” either results in an awkwardly worded sentence or makes it unclear: does “always” refer to how often the dentist tells Geoff or to how often Geoff should brush his teeth?

Read this FAQ: What does it mean to split an infinitive?

What is the first conditional?

The first conditional is a type of conditional sentence that describes a realistic potential action in the present and its probable result (e.g., “If you try your best, you will succeed”).

All first conditional sentences are made up of two clauses:

• A dependent clause that contains a verb in the simple present tense (e.g., “if you try”).
• An independent clause that contains a modal verb (usually “will,” “might,” “may,” or “can”) and the infinitive form of the main verb (e.g., “succeed”).

Read this FAQ: What is the first conditional?

What is a conditional clause?

A conditional clause is one of the two clauses used in a conditional sentence. It is a type of dependent clause (also known as a subordinate clause) that describes a hypothetical situation.

Conditional clauses typically begin with the conjunction “if.” They are connected to an independent clause (also called a main clause) that describes the potential results of the hypothetical scenario (e.g., “If it snows, school will be canceled”).

Read this FAQ: What is a conditional clause?

Are dangling participles bad?

Dangling participles are grammatical errors that can result in confusing or absurd sentences and should be avoided. They involve participial phrases that seem to describe the wrong noun. For example, “jumping for joy, the song delighted the young girl.” Although the girl is the one who is jumping for joy, the sentence makes it sound like the song is performing this action.

Instead, you could write, “jumping for joy, the young girl was delighted by the song” or “the song delighted the young girl, who was jumping for joy.”

A QuillBot grammar check can help you avoid dangling participles.

Read this FAQ: Are dangling participles bad?

What is an example of a dangling participle?

An example of a dangling participle is “running at great speed, the dog’s nose started twitching.”

This includes a participial phrase, “running at great speed,” that seems to describe the wrong noun. Although it should describe the dog, the noun that follows the phrase is “the dog’s nose,” making it sound like the nose is running instead of the dog. A better way to phrase this sentence is “as the dog was running at great speed, its nose started twitching.”

Read this FAQ: What is an example of a dangling participle?

What is the past tense of fly?

The past tense form of “fly” is “flew.” It is used to describe an action that occurred in the past (e.g., “She flew to Tokyo from London”).

The past participle of “fly” is “flown” (e.g., “We had already flown to Chicago when we found out the wedding was canceled”).

A QuillBot grammar check can help ensure you’re using the past tense of “fly” correctly.

Read this FAQ: What is the past tense of fly?

What is the past tense of teach?

The past tense form of “teach” is “taught.” It is used to describe an action that occurred in the past (e.g., “My parents taught me how to ride a bike”).

The past participle of “teach” is also “taught” (e.g., “He had taught for thirty years when he retired”).

Read this FAQ: What is the past tense of teach?

What is the past tense of dream?

The past tense form of “dream” is dreamed or dreamt. “Dreamed” is more common in American English, and “dreamt” is more common in British English. The past tense form is used when describing a past action (e.g., “I dreamed/dreamt I was a bird”).

The past participle of “dream” is also “dreamed” or “dreamt” (e.g., “I had dreamed/dreamt of being a doctor for years”).

QuillBot’s grammar check tool can help ensure you’re using the past tense of “dream” correctly.

Read this FAQ: What is the past tense of dream?

What is an indicative sentence?

An indicative sentence is a sentence that states a fact or opinion or asks a question (e.g., “I worked all day,” “Basketball is more fun than baseball,” “Do you like coffee?”).

The verbs of indicative sentences are considered to be in the indicative mood, which is the most common of the three moods in English: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive.

Read this FAQ: What is an indicative sentence?