Into or in to
A horse walks into a bar. The barman comes up and says ‘Why the long face?’
I’m rather fond of all those ‘A man/horse/alien etc. walks into a bar’ jokes, aren’t you? Some are particularly amusing, such as the following one, which fellow language-lovers should appreciate:
Past, present, and future walked into a bar – it was tense.
Is this blog about the language of jokes? Not really (though it would make a fine topic for another day). These jokes illustrate a spelling point – should I have written ‘…walked in to a bar…’? When do you write in to as one word? Putting it another way: to separate or not to separate, that is the question (apologies to Hamlet for trivializing his existential dilemma!).
Into or in to mini- quiz
Here’s a mini-quiz. Do you know which of the following sentences use into and in to correctly?
I got in to my car and zoomed off home.
The second half of the film degenerates into a series of sketches.
They finally gave in to his demands.
The plane flew in to Gatwick an hour late.
She was brought into work on costume design.
He’s really in to tennis.
Hey, does it really matter?
Well, not when you’re speaking, obviously. But if you’re writing, it’s a different case entirely. There’s a distinction in both meaning and grammar between the one-word spelling into and the two-word in to. If you opt for the wrong spelling, your readers are likely to become confused, distracted, or even irritated: you need to be especially careful when you’re writing for school, college, or work. So if you’re unsure, but are keen to get it right in future, read on.
Into or in to?
To understand the distinction between these words, we need to go back to grammar. The one-word form, into, is a preposition. Prepositions are used in front of a noun or a pronoun to show:
- place (we live in an apartment)
- time (it rained during the night)
- direction (a cat ran across my path)
- the way in which something is done (he went by train)
Into has several meanings, mainly relating to movement, action, or change:
- describing movement or action that results in someone or something becoming enclosed, surrounded by, or being in contact with something else: Martin put the wine into the fridge; Pat crashed into another car.
- towards the direction of something: the main road leads into the city centre.
- expressing a change of state: the peaceful demo turned into a violent confrontation.
- showing the result of an action: the minister was forced into a public apology.
- about or relating to something: an investigation into the incident is under way.
- used when dividing numbers: two goes into six three times.
- used informally to mean actively interested in something: she’s into running
As for in and to, they’re words with many meanings and they can perform several different roles in a sentence (they’re both adverbs and prepositions; in is an adjective and a noun as well). You can also use to with the base form (infinitive) of a verb (she had to leave him). There’s no need to describe all the uses and meanings of these words in detail right now: for more information, see Oxford Dictionaries entries for in and to.
We’re concerned here with cases where in and to occur together in a sentence or clause, but they should be written as separate words because they’re fulfilling different functions. Here are some examples:
- Mum called us in to supper (adverb in, preposition to)
- He caved in to their demands (phrasal verb cave in, preposition to)
- The whole family pitched in to clean the house (phrasal verb pitch in, infinitive to clean)
- I came in to have a cup of coffee (adverb in, infinitive to have)’
Some of the examples above use the term ‘phrasal verb’. This type of verb is one that’s made up of a verb plus an adverb or a preposition, or both. A phrasal verb typically has a meaning that isn’t obvious from the individual parts. For instance: she was brought up by her aunt; my car broke down; he put me down for a trip to Paris. If you’re not sure about distinguishing between simple verbs and phrasal verbs, you can check them in a dictionary.
To sum up, you need to think about the meaning you want to express and to identify which words into or in and to belong with in a sentence, clause, or phrase. Once you become confident about this, you should find that selecting either the one-word or the two-word spelling is easy to do.
Here are a couple of questions to help you decide:
- Is to part of an infinitive verb or is it a preposition?
If yes, always write in and to as separate words:
✔ Ministers stepped in to resolve the crisis.
(in is part of the phrasal verb step in; to resolve is an infinitive verb form)
✔ I just dropped in to see how you were.
(in is part of the phrasal verb drop in; to see is an infinitive verb form)
✔ He listened in to our phone call.
(in is part of the phrasal verb listen in; to is a preposition that belongs with the noun phrase our phone call)
- Does into appear in conjunction with a verb (or phrasal verb) of movement, action, or change, and is it functioning as a preposition that’s linked in meaning to a noun or pronoun?
If yes, always write into as one word:
✔ When I first stepped into the room, I had no idea of its size.
(step is a simple verb of movement; into is a preposition)
✔ Oh no! I dropped my phone into the bath!
(drop is a simple verb of action; into is a preposition)
✔ Their company ran into financial difficulties.
(run into is a phrasal verb)
✔ He didn’t go into detail about the accident.
(go into is a phrasal verb)
I hope the difference between into and in to is clearer now: it may take a little mental effort at first, but you’ll soon get into the hang of analysing sentences and choosing the correct spelling.
I’ll leave you with another joke:
A sandwich walks into a bar, and the barman says ‘sorry, we don’t serve food here’.
X I got in to my car and zoomed off home.
✔ The second half of the film degenerates into a series of sketches.
✔ They finally gave in to his demands.
X The plane flew in to Gatwick an hour late.
X She was brought into work on costume design
X He’s really in to tennis.