Expert: George Roupe - 1/31/2005

Question
Please can you tell me the correct usage of into and in to.

In a sentence where the subject is paying money into an account... which is correct... into or in to?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Answer
GENERALLY speaking, when "in" and "to" occur together, they should be run together as one word, "into"--UNLESS there's a reason not to! The main "reason not to" is when "in," not "into," modifies the preceding verb. For example, you would say "turn the assignment in to the teacher" to mean give it to the teacher. "Turn in" is a common verb-adverb phrase with a different meaning from "turn into" (to "turn into" something means to BECOME something--a caterpillar turns INTO a butterfly). So "turn the assignment into the teacher" would be incorrect (unless you mean do some magic on the "assignment" so that it "turns into" the teacher!). So MOST of the time (including the example you ask about), "in to" should be "into," but there are many exceptions where the verb needs "in" rather than "into."