{"id":776,"date":"2012-07-29T13:08:04","date_gmt":"2012-07-29T19:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=776"},"modified":"2021-07-07T10:42:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T15:42:47","slug":"into-vs-in-to-expanded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/into-vs-in-to-expanded\/","title":{"rendered":"Into<\/em> vs. In To<\/em> (Expanded)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jane authored the first Grammar Tip on this subject in 2009, her intention was to provide simple, concise guidance on the most commonly encountered uses of the words into<\/em> and in to<\/em>. But she knew that at some point we would need to explore this topic in more depth. Since issuing that Grammar Tip, we have responded to 247 questions from readers on a wide variety of situations regarding the use of into<\/em> vs. in to<\/em>!\u00a0 So, there is no better time than now to go into more depth on this topic.<\/p>\n

How does one know when to use into<\/em> or in to<\/em>?<\/p>\n

1. One of the main uses of the preposition into<\/em> is to indicate movement toward the inside of a place.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

The children jumped into<\/em> the lake for a swim.<\/p>\n

Mom drove the car into <\/em>the garage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. Into<\/em> can indicate \u201cin the direction of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Example<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do not look directly into<\/em> the laser or you may damage your eyes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Into<\/em> can refer to a state or condition.<\/p>\n

Example<\/strong><\/p>\n

He got into<\/em> trouble.<\/p>\n

The caterpillar changed into<\/em> a butterfly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. Into<\/em> can indicate occupation or involvement.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

The couple went into<\/em> farming.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, her brother got into<\/em> drugs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Into<\/em> can imply introduction, insertion, or inclusion.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

The nations entered into<\/em> an alliance.<\/p>\n

Marguerite was hired into<\/em> the firm.<\/p>\n

Jojo incorporated my comments into <\/em>the final document.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. Into<\/em> can indicate a point within time or space.<\/p>\n

Example<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are now well into<\/em> the year.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft went into<\/em> orbit around the moon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7. Into<\/em> is used as a divisor in math.<\/p>\n

Example<\/strong><\/p>\n

The number 4 goes into<\/em> 8 two times.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you can see, there are many different situations where it is correct to use the word into<\/em>. However, sometimes the words in<\/em> (adverb) and to<\/em> (preposition) just happen to find themselves neighbors, and they must remain separate words.<\/p>\n

Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rachel dived back in to<\/em> rescue the struggling boy. [Here, in<\/em> is part of the verb \u201cdived in,\u201d and to<\/em> belongs with \u201crescue\u201d (forming the infinitive) and means \u201cin order to,\u201d not \u201cwhere.\u201d]<\/p>\n

The administrators wouldn\u2019t give in to<\/em> the demands of the protestors.<\/p>\n

He turned his essay in to<\/em> the teacher.<\/p>\n

Using the word into<\/em> in the last example would be a big mistake. It would mean he performed some kind of amazing magic trick that made his essay become<\/em> the teacher!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I know this has been one of our longest Grammar Tips ever. However, 247 comments over the last two plus years indicated that we needed to cover this subject more thoroughly. I hope this lesson helped. Try your hand at the Pop Quiz, which includes some of the questions readers have submitted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. As a child, I was too afraid to go into\/in to<\/em> the Halloween haunted house.<\/p>\n

2. I\u2019m going to turn the wallet I found into\/in to<\/em> the police.<\/p>\n

3. If your battery is running low, you\u2019ll need to plug your power cord into\/in to<\/em> the socket.<\/p>\n

4. I will look into\/in to<\/em> the options you have suggested.<\/p>\n

5. She came into\/in to<\/em> warm her hands and feet.<\/p>\n

6. Her brother Billy is really into\/in to<\/em> sports.<\/p>\n

7. Excuse me, I\u2019m going to tune into\/in to<\/em> watch the nightly news.<\/p>\n

8. The agreement goes into\/in to<\/em> effect on October 1.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Answers:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. As a child, I was too afraid to go into\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>the Halloween haunted house.<\/p>\n

2. I\u2019m going to turn the wallet I found in to<\/strong><\/em> the police.<\/p>\n

3. If your battery is running low, you\u2019ll need to plug your power cord into<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0the socket.<\/p>\n

4. I will look into<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the options you have suggested.<\/p>\n

5. She came in to<\/strong><\/em> warm her hands and feet.<\/p>\n

6. Her brother Billy is really into<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0sports.<\/p>\n

7. Excuse me, I\u2019m going to tune in to<\/strong><\/em> watch the nightly news.<\/p>\n

8. The agreement goes into<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0effect on October 1.<\/p>\n

\n
Are you ready for the quiz?<\/h6>\n

Into vs In to Quiz<\/a><\/br>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Jane authored the first Grammar Tip on this subject in 2009, her intention was to provide simple, concise guidance on the most commonly encountered uses of the words into and in to. But she knew that at some point we would need to explore this topic in more depth. Since issuing that Grammar Tip, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5157,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776\/revisions\/5157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}