Are there cases where 'in to' is different from 'into'?
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Tedwonny,
(1) Do not feel bad. Many native speakers (including the one who is writing this post) are also confused.
YES, there is a big difference between "
in to" and
"
into."
(2) I most respectfully suggest that you keep a notebook with examples from articles that you read in English. Little by little, you will start to notice the difference.
(3) Here is a famous example used by many teachers:
(a) The man took his wife
in to dinner.
(b) The man took his wife
into dinner.
(3a) = He accompanied (walked with) his wife to dinner in the dining room.
(3b) = He pushed his wife so that her head made contact with the food!!!
(4) Here is a good explanation from
Woe Is I by Ms. Patricia T. O'Conner, who used
to work for
The New York Times.
Use
into for (a) entering something, (b) changing the form of something, and (c) making contact with something.
Ms. O'Conner's example sentence: Get
into the coach before it turns
into a pumpkin,
and don't bang
into the door!
Use
in for
most other situations: I tune
in to my favorite TV show.
(5) Here's an example from the newspaper:
(a) He turned himself
in to the police. (He surrendered himself to the police.)
(If you said, "He turned himself
into the police," that would mean he was able to take on the form of a policeman!)
(6) As I said, even native speakers get confused. I have seen "You must check
in to the hotel" and "You must check
into the hotel." (P.S. I think -- think -- that most
people would prefer "into.")
When you read English, and you are confused by the use of "in" or "into," just ask here. Someone will answer you.
