36b Revise disruptive modifiers.

Disruptive modifiers interrupt the connections between parts of a grammatical structure or a sentence, making it hard for readers to follow the progress of the thought.

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In general, do not place a modifier between the to and the verb of an infinitive (to often complain). Doing so makes it hard for readers to recognize that the two go together.

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In some sentences, however, a modifier sounds awkward if it does not split the infinitive. In such cases, it may be best to reword the sentence to eliminate the infinitive altogether.

SPLIT I hope to almost equal my last year’s income.
REVISED I hope that I will earn almost as much as I did last year.