Hi, this may make absolutely no difference, but I'd still like to get an opinion from someone who hasn't been staring at it so long. In most situations I am able to find some criteria to help me decide between two, three ways of saying something, opting for the more creative one or the one more commonly heard or the one which fits the style I'm currently writing in. Without giving away my entire sentence, these are the two almost identical phrases: "… and how to play it better." or "… and how to better play it." Both are the end of a sentence talking about musical instruments. I am fairly certain I could go with either and no one would pay attention to it, or know there was something to pay attention to. And as I understand it, they're both pretty commonly used, one no more so than the other? What I'm asking is: (1) Is one in fact more commonly used than the other and (2) Is one more formal or a different style than the other? This could help me decide. What do you think? Thank you
In my ears. You have to decide what better is describing. Play it better, it's the music that is better, nicer to listen at. The result of playing is better. Better play it, it's the playing that is say technically better The act of of playing. "The second time she played 'Yesturday' her fingers were much better placed on the keyboard, she played better, however as she concentrated so much on it that the music did not get the same lyric precence"
“...how to better play it” sounds strange to me. It’s also technically a grammatical error, as it splits the infinitive. You can use “...how to play it better” in reference either to the instrument or the piece. It just depends on the pronoun reference. “She spent years practicing the piano to learn how to play it better.” “She practiced the Schubert piece over and over to learn how to play it better.” You can test the grammar of this sentence by substituting “better” with “well”. “She learned how to well play it.” “She learned how to play it well.” Clearly the first is not grammatically correct.
Either is fine. (1) is more simpler to my ear. As was said, you're splitting the infinitive "to play." That rule was fairly arbitrary when it was invented. Even Strunk and White say it's okay to ignore it, and those two goofballs are sticklers of the first order and are even referring to non-fiction writing. The whole rule was an attempt at formalizing English and making it act like Latin. Why? Because. I chalk it up to snootiness. The country of origin will go unnamed . . . Even if either phrasing is okay, there's still a difference. There's a shift in emphasis. Because you're saying such a simple thing (to play better), that's all you need, IMO. If the phrase were longer, or emphasis needed to be shifted, maybe the issue would change. Look at these two examples. Emphasis is on "permanently" and "faithfully" and I think logic tells you why: Most mythical usage rules are merely harmless. The prohibition of split infinitives (as in "Are you sure you want to permanently delete all the items and subfolders in the 'Deleted Items' folder?") and the even more sweeping prohibition of "split verbs" (as in "I will always love you" and "I would never have guessed") is downright pernicious. During the 2009 presidential inauguration, Chief Justice John Roberts, a famous stickler for grammar, could not bring himself to have Barack Obama "solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States". Abandoning his strict constructionism, Roberts unilaterally amended the Constitution and had Obama "solemnly swear that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully." The garbled oath raised fears about whether the transfer of power had been legitimate, and so they repeated the oath verbatim, split verb and all, in a private meeting later that afternoon.
I think who is talking should also be taken into consideration in this choice. If I read "...how to better play it," from a character whose first language is not English, it may actually make more sense than the first option. In addition, a slight variant on that such as, "...how to better your playing of it," would make me think the speaker was quite posh and wouldn't really fit in with a character who never speaks correctly. (Such as always saying "ain't" or using the wrong tenses. "I weren't bothered, you know what I mean?") So the first option would suit most speakers, but how something is said depends on who is saying it.
