"Into" VS "In to"
WHAT???
You mean to tell me there's a difference between the two?
Ah...yes, there is. Now, before you start panicking, let me be honest. You probably already know the difference. And you probably don't mistake "into" for "in to". But, just in case, I'll give you this grammar lesson:
"Into" is a preposition which is often used to answer the question "where?". For example:
"Where are Jack and Jill?"
"They went up the hill."
Oh, wait...that won't work. LoL. Let's try that again.
"Where are Dick and Jane?"
"They went into the book."
Or something like:
"The dogs ran into the woods before realizing they were chasing a gust of wind." Silly dogs. ;-)
The "where" in the sentence is "into the woods".
Or "Into" is used as an analogy in time or when you speak about math. Like the following:
"It's well into November and the leaves haven't fallen off the trees yet."
"Six goes into twelve twice."
Basically, "into" is used A LOT.
The only time you actually use "in" and "to" apart is when they accidentally find themselves next to each other in the same sentence. They are "neighbors", but don't belong together. They actually belong to the word before or after them instead. Like this:
"The fireman ran in to get the dog out of the burning house."
"In" in this sentences belongs to ran and "to" belongs to get. In these sentences "in to" mean "in order to". Makes sense? Here's another one:
"The bird flew in to grab his jacket."
Now, for these two examples you could easily switch them up and write "into" instead. Like this:
"The fireman ran into the burning house to rescue the dog."
"The bird flew into the cage to grab his jacket."
Just and FYI...I like the "into" sentences better ;-)
And apparently, there are also lose English (60's colloquialism apparently), that allows "into" to mean "deeply interested or involved in". You would use it the following ways:
"My daughter is heavily into her horses."
"The President is looking into the matter."
According to some websites, this is not acceptable English, yet its acceptable in "informal communication".
Hmmm...I'm looking at that and scratching my head. Doesn't really make sense, huh?
IDK...I don't write this stuff, I just try to teach it. Good thing I'm not a teacher!
~JD
29 comments:
Great post officer!
I think being into something is definitely still considered slang, but I'm totally into them changing that.
Gosh there are so many alike words I find it so hard to keep up at times!! It's so exhausting isn't it?! To and too, lose and loose, into and in to!
We need a notebook for all the differences, LOL!!
Great lesson. I agree with Jen too many similar words. :)
Nice lesson Ms. Dell!
It's no wonder English is one of the most difficult languages to speak fluently.
Great reminders here, Justine. Thanks!!! (BTW, love the quirky sentence about the bird who forgot his jacket!)
What do you mean? You make a FAB teacher! This little lesson was great. Imagine trying to teach these type of grammar lessons to a 4th grader. Why is our language so bizarre??
LOL, you are just so cute I wanna squish your cheeks! ;-) hahaha
I agree with Tiffany. If my teachers would have made grammar this entertaining, I might have paid more attention in class ;)
Great examples Justine!
Never thought about this before! For some reason my instinct is to put 'into' whenever followed by 'the' and 'in to' when followed by a verb.
Good examples! I see this mistake a lot (I probably make it a lot, too.)
fabulous examples -- this is an excellent reminder! i've seen this get confused a lot.
thanks for the clarity!!
I loved your examples! Excellent post.
Funny post. You should be a teacher!
This is one of the few grammar rules I don't screw up too often!
I love little lessons like this! Though, I have to admit I never really gave much thought to "into" and "in to." Then again, I guess I'm not very attentive. :)
I can't imagine trying to learn English as a second language.
Love your grammar lessons!
Thanks for this, Justine! I always have a problem with these tricksy ones.
Oops, sorry for removing the other post. I had an accident. lol.
Great post. I love grammar police day.:)
Nice lesson, lol. I never had a problem with these two though.
Now I have no excuse to confuse the two any longer! Great post!
Thanks for this! The more grammar I learn, the better!
I never thought about this before. Thank you for this!
OK, you freaked me for a second, but I'm good now. Going into the MS for more fun ... :)
Another excellent post!
i came in to read your blog today cause you always go into lots of detail on grammar stuff. mostly i come in to your blog every day cause im into you cause youre into neat stuff and youre sooooo cool! ha ha. my brother helped me write that. …hugs from lenny
Good lesson!
"To serve and correct." I like that. : )
Thanks for the grammar lesson!
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