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infinitive

 
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navi



Joined: 02 Mar 2005
Posts: 104
PostPosted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 5:32 pm    Post subject: infinitive Reply with quote
Are these sentences both correct:
1-The reason I did it was not to bother you.
2-The reason I did it was to not bother you.

Can't 1 have two meanings:
a-I did it in order not to bother you.
b-I didn't do it to bother you but for another reason.
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asterix



Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 1654
PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 4:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The second one contains a split infinitive. to not bother. This is a grammatical error.
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