into
part of speech
preposition
meaning for a pupil
1) Into means to the inside of something: jump into the pool. tree →
2) Into shows a change of form or state: water turns into ice. tree →
3) Into shows parts or groups something is made into: cut into 8 pieces. tree →
4) Into can mean hitting something: bump into a door. tree →
5) In maths, «2 into 10» means 10 divided by 2 («2 into 10 goes 5 times»). tree →
6) (casual) To be into something is to like it a lot: she's really into football; «not into it» means not keen. tree →
7) (rough) «Lay into someone» or «tear into someone» means attack them, often with angry words. tree →
8) (formal) The exam voice says «partitioned into», «subdivided into», «converted into», «deposited into», «allocated into». tree →
9) Break into can mean suddenly starting to do something, such as singing or laughing. tree →
sense in the lessons
putting or splitting things into groups or boxes («splits 6 cards equally into 3 boxes» = divide by 3); «put 3 more into the box» = add 3; «how many times does 4 go into 20» = 20 ÷ 4; in science changes: «ice melts into water», «a caterpillar turns into a butterfly»; in everyday life «get into the car», «bump into a friend» (meet by chance); in casual talk «be into something»; in rough talk «lay into»; in the exam voice «partitioned into», «subdivided into»
examples
- Ben splits 6 cards equally into 3 boxes. tree →
- 4 books are put into 2 equal groups. tree →
- Cut the cake into 8 pieces. tree →
- The frog jumped into the pond. tree →
- A caterpillar turns into a butterfly. tree →
- Put the toys into the box. tree →
- I bumped into my teacher at the shop. tree →
- Mia is really into dinosaurs. tree →
- How many times does 4 go into 20? tree →
- nah not into footy, i'll come watch tho tree →
- Coach really laid into us after we lost 5–0. tree →
- A collection of 24 stamps is partitioned into 4 subsets of equal cardinality; state the cardinality of each subset. tree →
note
«into N groups/boxes» names the number of shares: divide; «partitioned into» and «subdivided into» in an exam do the same. Trap: «puts 3 more into the box» just adds 3. «4 goes into 20» means 20 ÷ 4 = 5: the bigger number is the one shared. «into» is one word (movement); «in to» is two words in sentences like «hand your work in to the teacher». «be into» is about liking, not maths.
In the corpora
- A subscription keeps taking money every month until it is cancelled, and free trials often turn into payments.
- Buy now pay later splits a purchase into instalments; it is still borrowing, with charges if a payment is late.
- In Cork, twenty-three people squeeze into Gran's house for Christmas.
- Most of the time it goes smoothly, but small things like a hedge or a parked car can grow into big rows.
- Vivid example: in Melbourne, cousin Jess moves into her first rented flat with a bag of old plates from Gran.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «into» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.