Writing & Grammar: In? In to? or Into?

As I recall, the question of whether certain expressions are one word or two was the subject of my first article in this newsletter. That does not mean the subject is at all stale. Accidentally or mistakenly running two words together or erroneously separating them remains one of the most frequent errors I see. And it can create a feeling of confusion in your readers.

In the case of in, into and in to, the first thing to know is that you should use into when motion is involved and in to indicate a stationary location:

• He placed the groceries into the bag.
• I found the receipt in the bag.

In real life, we often mistakenly shorten into to in when speaking, especially when we are in a hurry:

• Quick! Put your pet boa constrictor in the box before it gets away again!

According to usage books such as The Careful Writer and The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, the boa constrictor sentence is incorrect–it should be into the box, because motion is involved. But I think none of us would blame the alarmed parent who uttered that sentence.

In writing, however, we should use the proper word, into for the action of putting one thing inside another:

• Step 3: Next, carefully place the snake into the box.
• Please enter this data into the database.

And by analogy, going into or looking into some emotional states, timeframes, and locations that seem to engulf something or someone also use into:

• Because of the deadline, we worked long into the night.
• The alligator disappeared into the swamp.
• She gazed into the distance.

In all of these cases, into is a preposition and is followed by a noun, such as box, database, night, or swamp.

When is in to two words? Two situations: when the word after it is a verb, and in the expression log in to:

• We went in to eat dinner.
• Please log in to the website to complete your purchase.

In the first one, to is part of the verb form to eat, and can't be combined with in. In the second one, in is part of the verb to log in, and therefore can't be combined with to.

Challenge

Choose the right word in each example.

1. The hedgehog ran across the lawn and disappeared in/into/in to the bushes.
2. The fawn was so well camouflaged that it seemed to disappear as it stood there in/into/in to the bushes.
3. Please log in/into/in to the server to access your files.
4. The kids came in/into/in to see the kittens under the kitchen sink.
5. He poured some more hot coffee in/into/in to his cup.

Feel free to post your answers as comments below.