Going off this question, where the sole answer put forth a rule of thumb:
Grammatical reason: it is considered best for clarity's sake to place the emphasizer ("even," here) closest to the entity of interest.
The placement of the adverb "even" has piqued my interest with these sentences, some of them from various online dictionaries:
...declined even to consider the idea.
her mother didn't like her even to walk past the barroom because she was worried that there might be drunk people inside
For it is shameful even to mention the things being done by them in secret.
...to pay for things such as groceries, or even to purchase a cup of coffee.
These sentences do not accord with the aforementioned rule. I am wondering:
- What stylistic differences do "even to" and "to even" make?
- Is this an AmE/BrE thing? Is one way more preferable in any English language tradition?
- My hypothesis is there are sentences where either one will do just fine and has the exact same meaning without nuances. But there should also be sentences--even among the handful examples listed above--where one way is more preferable than the other. What are the rules?
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