'decide not to' or 'decide to not' ?

Question

I came up with this question when I received an email from a committee with a sentence 'We have decided not to publish it', which seems really strange to me because the grammar I learned in English classes is 'decide not to do something' and 'decide to not do' was told incorrect.

I searched for answers to this problem online, but did not find a clear as well as persuasive answer. In terms of grammar, is 'decide not to do' correct ? If it is incorrect, is there a reason why people say 'decide not to do' even in official letters ?

You object to the order that is actually correct according to the very rule you stated. And you do it twice, so it can't be a mere typo. — RegDwigнt, Aug 31 '14 at 22:36

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 31 '14 at 19:55

8

Each of decide not to do, decide to not do, and not decide to do is correct. But the last one means something different from the other two.

If you have decided not to do X then you have decided. (And presumably you will not do X.) And deciding not to do X is the same as deciding to not do X.
If you have not decided to do X then you have not made a decision about doing X.

answered Aug 31 '14 at 19:55

Drew

15,241

3

But these Google Ngrams show which of OP's suggested alternatives is more idiomatic. – Edwin Ashworth Aug 31 '14 at 21:11
@EdwinAshworth That's a really cool tool! Thank you! – booksee Sep 01 '14 at 01:04
@booksee Your question is a good one (though it's been asked here before). The apparently more logical choice ('decide to not V') is far less commonly used than 'decide not to V'. Possibly it's just a matter of which flows better in speech. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 01 '14 at 07:25
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@EdwinAshworth: Blame the usage on "To be or not to be". ;-) – Drew Aug 18 '22 at 17:34

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 31 '14 at 19:16

0

No, I am pretty sure that they are both perfectly acceptable, and in actual fact the way that you say sounds strange is normal for me - I guess it is differences in tuition.

answered Aug 31 '14 at 19:16

Tim

2,852

'decide not to' or 'decide to not' ?

2 Answers2