ShmoopTube

00:04

Into versus In to, a la Shmoop. Okay, Shmoopers, it's time to discover the

00:11

ins and outs of “into” and “in to”.

00:14

Hold onto your seat… we're gonna have a lot of examples for this one…

00:18

“Into” is a preposition. It connects a noun or pronoun to the rest of a sentence...

00:23

...and is generally related to direction.

00:25

“In to”...

00:28

…with a space between the “in” and “to”...

00:31

...can be together in a sentence accidentally.

00:33

Or, the “in” could be serving as an adverb, preposition, or adjective in the sentence.

00:39

Or, the “to” could be a preposition or an adverb within the sentence. See why we

00:44

need examples? Let's start with “into”, as in the directional

00:48

“into”.

00:49

A bird flew into Bob while he was riding his bike...

00:53

...causing Bob to veer into a bush.

00:59

Julie dropped Jane's favorite book into a puddle...

01:03

...and Jane drove her fist into Julie's face. Now, let's look at “in to”...

01:10

...the “in to” with a space between the “in” and the “to”.

01:15

The thieves broke in to the car. “Broke in” is a phrasal verb, so there is a space

01:25

between “in” and “to”. He went in to buy milk. Here, the word “to”

01:30

is part of the infinitive phrase “to buy”. Here's how to remember when to use “into”...

01:38

...the directional, prepositional “into”.

01:40

“Into” serves as an arrow in a sentence...

01:43

...as in, “Jane went into the kitchen”...

01:45

...and “Tommy dove into the pool”. The best thing you can do with the “into”

01:50

and “in to” grammar rule is to practice...

01:53

...and practice...

01:54

...and practice some more. It'll be about as fun as toting a sousaphone around a football

01:57

field on a really hot day...

01:59

...but at least you'll wow your English teacher next time you turn in a paper.

Full Transcript