海角大神

The long-awaited and much-postponed dinner with friends had finally come off, after months of rescheduling. And at some point between the main course and the dessert, conversation somehow turned, as sometimes happens at a wordsmith鈥檚 dinner party, to issues of grammar.聽

OK, one of my guests began, we all know the difference between in and into. But what about the difference between into and in to?

Hmm, funny you should ask 鈥� I鈥檝e been meaning to research this one.

We use into 鈥渢o indicate movement toward the inside of a place,鈥� as the late Jane Straus wrote on her Grammar Book blog. 鈥�In to is the adverb in followed by the preposition to.鈥�

The in/into distinction is straightforward: 鈥淗e first moved into the city 10 years ago, and he鈥檚 been living in my neighborhood for the past five.鈥�

But the in to/into distinction is trickier. To get it right, be clear on what your verb is. If it鈥檚 phrasal, you probably should stick with 鈥渋n to鈥� rather than 鈥渃losing it up,鈥� as editors say.

What鈥檚 a phrasal verb? It鈥檚 one made up of a verb plus an adverb or preposition. English is full of phrasal verbs: come in, go out, get on, get off, get across. They鈥檙e often idiomatic. That is, they are 鈥渆stablished by usage as having a meaning not deducible from the meanings of the individual words,鈥� as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it. Websites for English learners abound with lists of them, with definitions.

For example: 鈥淗e turned his paper in to his teacher.鈥� The verb is 鈥渢urn in,鈥� meaning 鈥渢o deliver,鈥� and so you need 鈥渋n to,鈥� not 鈥渋nto.鈥� But there鈥檚 also an idiom 鈥渢o turn into (something),鈥� meaning 鈥渢o be changed or transformed鈥�: 鈥淗e turned into a fine young man once he鈥檇 grown up.鈥� That one takes 鈥渋nto.鈥�

You might write in to your congressman, but an editor will sometimes write into a reporter鈥檚 story material from a wire service.

The close-up question also arises with log in and log on. (Some purist techies insist that log in is correct only with reference to Linux systems, but I think that distinction is lost on the masses, including the techie masses.)

Both 鈥渓og鈥� verbs can easily be seen as phrasal, and therefore requiring 鈥渋n to鈥� or 鈥渙n to,鈥� respectively: I logged in to my account.

Here鈥檚 how Ms. Straus put it in an exchange with a reader on this subject: 鈥淭he real question to ask is, 鈥業s there actual entrance?鈥� If so, use 鈥榠nto.鈥� 鈥�

But somewhat later she opined, 鈥� 鈥業nto鈥� implies entrance, which one could say is meant figuratively here, even if not literally. Therefore, I would ... say that either into or in to is acceptable.鈥�

What about 鈥渢une in鈥�? It鈥檚 clearly a phrasal verb. But here are some usage examples from Oxford Dictionaries: 鈥測ou must tune into the needs of loved ones鈥� (illustrating tune in) and then, to illustrate be tuned in: 鈥渋t鈥檚 important to be tuned in to your child鈥檚 needs.鈥�

We have 鈥渋nto鈥� with one, and 鈥渋n to鈥� with the other. What鈥檚 up with that? Is it the distinction between the action of tuning in and the state of being tuned in that matters? Perhaps. That would be analogous to the earlier example of moving into/living in.

However much we long for clear-cut rules, some of these questions may have more than one reasonable answer.聽

And we nitpickers may just have to live with that.