Word Choice Into vs. In To - Proofread My Paper

Word Choice Into vs. In To - Proofread My Paper Word Choice: Into vs. In To In speech, the distinction between â€Å"into† (one word) and â€Å"in to† (two words) is pretty easy to miss. As a result, â€Å"into† and â€Å"in to† are often (wrongly) used interchangeably in writing. However, there is a difference between these terms. And while this isn’t exactly the worst grammatical error you could make, you’ll want to avoid confusing â€Å"into† and â€Å"in to† in formal or academic writing to ensure clarity. Into (Movement and Change) The preposition â€Å"into† has various uses, but most fall under the following categories: Expressing movement towards or entering something (e.g., â€Å"Bob climbed into the box†); Indicating a change in state (e.g., â€Å"The chemical turns into a gas when heated†); Meaning â€Å"about† or â€Å"relating to† something (e.g., â€Å"An inquiry into spending habits†); Showing interest in something (e.g., â€Å"I’m really into yoga these days†). Getting into yoga may involve twisting your body into some interesting shapes. The first of these covers physical movement, but can also include continued movement towards a specific point in time: She worked deep into the night to solve the problem. Likewise, when used to describe a change, this can be physical, but it can also be something more abstract, like a change in emotional state or translating something â€Å"into† another language. Importantly, all of these relate to movement, action or change. In To (Part of a Verb Phrase) As the variety of definitions above might suggest, using â€Å"into† is correct a lot of the time. The main exception to this is when â€Å"in† appears next to â€Å"to† in a sentence as part of a phrasal verb, which is when â€Å"in† is used with another word to create a verb phrase, such as â€Å"break in† or â€Å"drop in.† This can be confusing when â€Å"in† is followed by â€Å"to,† as the temptation is to combine these as â€Å"into.† But when â€Å"in† is part of a verb phrase, it needs to be kept separate from the preposition â€Å"to†: I stepped in to separate the fighters. – Correct I stepped into separate the fighters. – Incorrect Here, for instance, the verb phrase â€Å"stepped in† (meaning â€Å"intervened†) is treated as a single element in the sentence, with â€Å"to† a preposition indicating the reason for acting. Saying â€Å"I stepped into separate the fighters,† on the other hand, doesn’t make sense. This is because the preposition â€Å"into† implies entering something, but â€Å"separate the fighters† doesn’t follow from this. Nor is shouting Im going to enter you! an acceptable form of trash talk during a fight. Into or Into? As mentioned above, a lot of the time â€Å"into† is the correct term to use when describing a movement, action or change. In these cases, â€Å"into† is a single preposition. This is different when â€Å"in† is used as part of a phrasal verb followed by â€Å"to,† since here â€Å"in† is not used as a preposition in the sentence. Keeping â€Å"in† and â€Å"to† separate in these cases helps to ensure clarity, as it clearly shows the structure of the sentence. Remember: Into = Preposition indicating movement, action or change In to = Part of a verb phrase