Can you tell me which is correct: "May I please have some milk?" or "Please, may I have some milk? or "May I have some milk, please?" ETA: a comma between milk and please on last one.
I think they are all correct. The last one might need a comma before the please. Just personal preference... I prefer to hear the first one. The others tend to sound like begging when you start or end on a please.
In a speaking voice, all three are correct...written however, you need to add a comma between milk & please on your last one.
Actually, the first one can get you in trouble in my house: May I PLEASE have some milk? (Emphasis on please, and making it sound as a command, because you've totally exasperate me by making me ask...AGAIN!, lol!)
Looking at them again, only one is strictly correct. #1 contains a split infinitive; #2 includes an unnecessary comma; #3 seems OK. Personally, I'd go for #2 but without the comma.
There is no infinitive in any of the sentences. Infinitives are verbals and always begin with "to." You can separate helping verbs from the main verb and still be grammatically correct.
I was thinking the same thing about the infinitive. There is no "to + verb". I was thinking a split infinitive to be something like " to slowly walk".
GOOD! I wasn't going to ask, because I figured I was wrong. But I was thinking the same thing about the infinitive!
Yes, the usual examples of a split infinitive are "to boldly go", "to slowly learn", "to desperately plea", and so on. I remember being taught that the reason is based on the Latin equivalents - that the two words in English (e.g., "to go") are expressed using a single word in Latin. Based on that definition, "I have", "they go", "she saw", and so on fall into the same category; the equivalent in Latin is a single word. To place a word between the two English words is bad form because it attempts to split a single Latin word into two meaningless parts. In the example quoted, "I have" represent a single Latin word - so putting 'please' between them is bad practice. It's exactly equivalent to "to boldly go", where 'boldly' splits the infinitive.
So you're saying that Star Trek is WRONG? Steve, now I KNOW you are a troll! I still consider the infinitive as the "to" form. I have, they go, etc. are conjugated and therefor are not an infinitive to me.
No, they aren't the same. Helping verbs are not verbals. I took Latin and am a former English teacher. Sorry, but there is absolutely nothing grammatically wrong with the split as she had it. In English, infinitives are verbals; they begin with the word 'to.' The way Latin forms is irrelevant here. You may separate helping verbs from the main verb. You may also separate helping verbs from the subject. There is nothing grammatically incorrect with either formation.
