How to Choose Between Into or Onto and Their Two-Word Forms

How to Choose Between Into or Onto and Their Two-Word Forms How to Choose Between â€Å"Into† or â€Å"Onto† and Their Two-Word Forms How to Choose Between â€Å"Into† or â€Å"Onto† and Their Two-Word Forms By Mark Nichol Into, or â€Å"in to†? Onto, or â€Å"on to†? Into and onto are prepositions, words that describe relative position. They are part of prepositional phrases, such as â€Å"She settled herself into her seat† or â€Å"He climbed onto the roof.† These words are forward looking, in that, as their grammatical name implies, they are positioned before the object. â€Å"In to† and â€Å"on to,† on the other hand, are combinations of an adverb (in or on) and the preposition to. Unlike the single-word forms, they look both backward (in and on refer to a preceding verb) and forward (to pertains to the following object). Of the distinctions between each pair, that distinguishing into from â€Å"in to† is more straightforward. If you wish to write that you went somewhere to let a representative of a company know you are disappointed with a product or service, you can express that idea using either form. But if you write, â€Å"I walked into the office to lodge a complaint,† the sentence focuses on the prepositional phrase â€Å"into the office.† If you write, â€Å"I walked in to lodge a complaint,† the emphasis is the phrase describing the action: â€Å"I walked in.† Onto and â€Å"on to† can be more confusing, but think of the problem this way: â€Å"She drove onto the highway† means, â€Å"She drove so that she was on the highway.† Conversely, â€Å"She drove on to the highway† means, â€Å"She headed for the highway.† The two-word form is also appropriate for figurative meanings, where no physical movement or placement exists for example, â€Å"I think you’re really on to something.† Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to test whether onto or â€Å"on to† is correct temporarily insert the word up after the verb, or, just for the test, replace the word or the phrase with the word on: The â€Å"Up† Test When you wish to write that you used a ladder, could you write, â€Å"I climbed up onto the ladder†? Yes, you could, so onto is correct. When you want to express that you clutched something, could you write, â€Å"I held up on my hat†? No, the sentence does not make sense, so the two-word form (â€Å"I held on to my hat†) is the right one in this case. The â€Å"On† Test When you wish to write that you scaled a boulder, could you write, â€Å"I climbed on a boulder†? Yes, you could, so onto is correct. When you want to express that you bequeathed something, would you write, â€Å"I passed it on him†? No, that doesn’t make sense, so the two-word form (â€Å"I passed it on to him†) is correct here. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.25 Russian Words Used in English (and 25 More That Should Be)Each vs. Both