Commonly Confused Words: “Into” vs. “In to”

You might be looking at that title and thinking, “Wait a second . . . aren’t those the same word?” And your confusion is totally understandable. The only difference is one little space—how much does that space actually matter?

It turns out that one little space makes a pretty big difference! The words “into” and “in to” have different meanings and uses, and keeping them distinct is a grammatical skill that will set your writing apart. Let’s dig in.

Prepositions and Adverbs and Such

The simple yet not-super-helpful explanation is this:

• Into is a preposition
• In in to, in is an adverb and to is a preposition.

Got it? Yeah, that doesn’t really clear things up. But before we get to the actual, helpful explanation, we need a quick recap of what prepositions and adverbs are.

Preposition: Prepositions are all about relationships. They show the relationship that one object or part of a sentence has with another.

That relationship might have to do with direction, position, time, cause, possession, or any other way that the different elements might be connected.

Learn more about prepositions here!

Adverb: Adverbs modify or limit verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and entire sentences. They give extra information, often answering a question the reader might have.

So in in to, in is an adverb because it’s necessary to complete an earlier verb (that’s a hint that will be helpful later on: look for the verb that “in” is completing!).

Learn more about adverbs here!

But What Does It MEAN?

Into is a preposition that is used together with a verb. It communicates “entry, insertion, or inclusion (movement toward the inside of a place)” (Einsohn).

Here are a few examples:

• I went into the gym.
• The dog ran into the ocean.
• We entered our names into the roster.
• He got into trouble last night.
• The prince turned into a frog.

In to is made up of the adverb in—which is completing an earlier verb—and the preposition to—which is linking that verb to an indirect object. Here are some examples:

• The criminal turned herself in to the police.
• The student handed his paper in to the teacher.
• Do not give in to their demands.

In that last sentence, the adverb in is part of the verb give in. That’s the completed verb—give without the adverb in wouldn’t make sense: “Do not give to their demands.”

It’s All About How You’d Slice the Sentence

The real test of into vs. in to is where you would slice the sentence if you were to cut it in half.

The criminal turned herself in to the police.

In this sentence, you could cut off the last three words—”to the police”—and it would still make sense as a complete independent clause: “The criminal turned herself in.” We don’t actually need the prepositional phrase “to the police”—it’s just extra information.

It wouldn’t make sense to slice the sentence before in: “The criminal turned herself . . . ” In that clause, we’re missing the other half of the verb. We need in for it to make sense.

The fact that we can slice the sentence right through the middle of the in and the to tells us that we DO need that space between them—into would be incorrect in this sentence.

Let’s try another one.

The dog ran into the ocean.

If we were to cut this sentence in half, the most logical place is right after ran: “The dog ran.” We cut off the prepositional phrase “into the ocean,” so we’re missing that bonus information, but the sentence still makes sense without it.

“The dog ran in” could still make sense as a sentence, but that in isn’t essential the way it is in the sentence about the criminal turning herself in. The fact that the sentence makes sense without in means that into should be one word, not two.

Basically, what we’re doing here is trying to find out what the prepositional phrase is. If that prepositional phrase starts with into, that means into is the preposition, which means we do NOT need the space between in and to. However, if the prepositional phrase starts with just to, that means that in belongs with the verb, making it an adverb. To is the preposition, and we DO need the space between them.

The Most Common Mistake: Accidental Magical Transformation

The most common error is confusing “turned in to” (meaning handing something over) with “turned into” (meaning a change or transformation).

Please turn this form into your manager.

In this sentence, you are being asked to perform an act of magical transformation. Unless you took Professor McGonagall’s transfiguration class at Hogwarts, you’re unlikely to be able to say “abracadabra” and *poof* turn the form into your manager.

In all likelihood, no one actually wanted you to turn the form into your manager. What they actually meant was they want you to turn the form in to your manager. That space is important!

Please turn this form in to your manager.

Now, you are being asked to hand the form to the manager. That’s quite a bit easier than performing a magical feat.

What questions do you have about into and in to? Let me know in the comments, and follow along for more grammatical posts!

Click here to learn the difference between fewer and less!

Sources:

• Ebbitt, D. R., and W. R. Ebbitt. Index to English. 8th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
• Einsohn, Amy. The Copyeditor’s Handbook. 3rd ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: Univ of California Pr, 2011.
• Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage. 14th ed. Taunton, MA: QuadGraphics, 2016.