While studying for a grammar exam (I'm a foreigner speaker) one example said "she asked me to not phone" instead of the usual order "she asked me not to phone". The only thing that came to my mind is that being "ask to" a phrasal we can't avoid the "to" after the pronoun so we don't write a second "to" to avoid cacophony because in fact we should write "she asked me to not to phone". Am I right? Can anyone elaborate? Thank you in advance
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Possible duplicate: Are split infinitives grammatically incorrect, or are they valid constructs?.– RathonyDec 19, 2016 at 20:40
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What was the context? Was the first version presented as correct? It's odd to be.– Azor Ahai -him-Dec 19, 2016 at 22:53
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What are you saying about «a second “to”»?– Scott - Слава УкраїніDec 20, 2016 at 21:46
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The versions with a single to are fine; the last with "to not to" isn't. The word order to not phone produces a stronger request than the word order not to phone.– LawrenceDec 20, 2016 at 23:04
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