53 PRS Proofreading and Editing Service PhD Experts • All Academic Areas • Fast Turnaround • High Quality evaluate the world’s leading journals’ – an unfortunate combination of words that invites the reader ‘to evaluate’ (the infinitive which is split in this case) with a critical eye the quality of the English used. Infinitives are usually split with an adverb added between the two parts of the verb (as ‘boldly’ and ‘critically’ split the infinitives in the examples above), and such split infinitives sometimes sound so natural that they can sneak past the eye of even the most seasoned professional proofreader. At other times the wording of a sentence seems to sound better when the infinitive is split by an adverb: ‘boldly to go’ and ‘to go boldly’ simply don’t resonate as ‘to boldly go’ does, probably largely because some of us have heard the last so often that it now seems ‘right.’ Nonetheless, an adverb should always be removed from amidst an infinitive and either placed elsewhere in the sentence or replaced with alternative wording: for example, ‘to evaluate critically’ or ‘to evaluate with a critical eye.’ This will sometimes prove more challenging than it sounds and in certain instances the adverb or adverbial phrase will have to be abandoned altogether to make a sentence work effectively, but as some of the best advice for writers claims, the right verb often doesn’t need an adverb to modify it at all, much as the right noun often does not need an adjective. Another concern when using English verbs arises from the difference between the passive and active voices. In the active voice a subject is clearly stated and the verb is active: ‘We investigated the relationship between changing weather patterns and the coverage provided by home insurance policies.’ In the passive voice, the object becomes the subject and the verb is passive: ‘The relationship between changing weather patterns and the coverage provided by home insurance policies was investigated.’ Both are correct English, of course, but because the passive voice does not name the people doing the investigating, it fails to convey with precision who did the research – the authors of the present article as part of the current PARt II: PRePARIng, PResentIng And PolIsHIng YoUR woRk