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I just wrote a sentence about taking the train to work, and it made me question the use of in to as separate words as opposed to into as a single word.
There are some slam dunks:
Adam and Steve ran into the room.
Sally phoned in to talk about her pet python.
In the first example into shows destination, and in the second the words in and to just happen to fall together.
Now consider my actual sentence problem:
I expect to be able to take a train in to the office.
I expect to be able to take a train into the office.
While both show a destination, the second example sounds comical to me, as if the train were physically entering the lobby of the office building. The first is what I finally chose to write.
I have since been searching for a justification. But all of the reference material I can find suggests I should have chosen into. The examples they show are simply too pat.
I still would keep them separate. What are your thoughts?
I agree with you, Glenn.
Just the other day, I wrote something like your Sally example, but the typing fingers missed the space. On re-reading, I found I could and, therefore, did leave out in. I might choose to do the same thing with your train examples.
One other thought, could this be an extension of, "I took the train into the city", which for a large majority of people have their offices?
Emmett
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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