You know what word I always want to spell incorrectly?
Into.
I want to spell it as "in to" - two words. Well not always, but often. I strongly disagree with it being one word. Strongly.
It just doesn't make any sense to me. For example, I'll make up a fake sentence.
"She shoved the head into the box"
Because I feel this sentence could also be written "She shoved the head in the box" (though this way it has a different meaning) I feel that "into" should be two words.
Is this weird? Am I the only one that has this issue with "into"?
I also occasionally have problems with "awhile", though that has more to do with the fact that I saw it once as a while, and I'm pretty sure that was a typo, but now I'm always confused about it.
Does anyone else have a word or words that you feel should be spelled differently?
(Sorry for the short post today, I was out all day on Sunday and forgot to write a blog post. I suspect the rest of the ones this week should be of a normal length).
28 comments:
Looks like we all pretty much had a fast-paced weekend. I'm dragging a bit this a.m., nicely so, tho. I've never thought of 'into' as being two separate words. To me, it's a specific preposition. I can understand the 'awhile' bit; typos can wrech havoc.
it changes every day. Sometimes I look at words I use all the time and they just look "weerd".
Hmmm... we have some Norwegian words than I'm always confused about - but I don't suppose you can speak Norwegian?
Falen, I think you were looking for this recently, click on the link :)
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Yeah, I often have to fix my separation of "into." Sometimes it just seems right for it to be separate.
Kittie - yeah it was filled with a lot of stuff
Palindrome - yeah i hate that. i had a problem with "sentence" for a bit
Alexndra - i do not know any norwegian. sorry
Dezmond - Thanks! I'll have to check it out when i'm not on my work comp
Summer - thank you! Now i know i'm not crazy!
No, you're not the only one who has issues. My beta's has pointed out that there actually IS a difference between "in to" and "into". The grammar police will do a blog on it soon.
Into doesn't give me much trouble but there ARE words out there that I have to make sure are spelled correctly.
New follower! Popped over here from Palindrome's blog but I have seen you around the blog-o-sphere and I'm glad I signed up for your posts! Looking forward to reading your entries.
I can't think of any off the top of my head, but there's a few words that just don't look right on paper.
There is a difference between both of those. Either is correct, depending on circumstance.
A while/awhile - if I remember right, you don't use awhile if you're going to put the word "for" in front of it, because when smushed together the "for" is implied.
Into/in to is more difficult. Sometimes it can be the difference between giving something to someone and turning them into something.
At least that's how I remember those, doesn't always work, lol.
My issue is with further/farther. Ugh.
Am I the only one that has this issue with "into"?
Yes.
Teehee.
My biggest grammatical bugaboo is ending sentences with a preposition. I know it's wrong, and I hate doing it, but not doing it sounds so formal.
It's one thing when writing dialogue; the character either does it or doesn't, depending on their character/voice.
But even in narration, making a point not to end a sentence with a preposition can cause the voice to sound forced and stuffy.
But it's wrong! I can't NOT do it!
I'm with you on the into. I still haven't figured out awhile. :(
Actually, I have this same issue not with "into," but with "onto." Is onto always one word? It seems like onto should be 'on top of' and on to should be 'on to the next thing.' Is it? I'm so confused :P
into VS in to is a trouble maker isn't it?
I copied this from the grammarbook.com (great resource)
How does one know when to use into or in to?
One of the main uses of the preposition into is to indicate movement toward the inside of a place.
Example: The children jumped into the lake for a swim.
In to is the adverb in followed by the preposition to.
Example: He turned his paper in to the teacher.
Can I tell you about a grammar pet peeve?
alot VS a lot – alot is not a correct but everybody still writes it.
I do whatever the all-powerful WORD spell-check tells me to do, right or wrong. :)
For some reason I am really anal about the rhythm of a sentence. For that reason I love that it can be in to or into. They can mean slightly different things, depending on context, but I love having the choice.
Slightly less easily interchangeable, but similar, is upon and up on.
Justine - i look forward to the post
B Miller - thanks for stopping by!
Alex - yeah i have a few more than into and awhile. Those were just the ones i could remember
Tara - i'm pretty good with further/farther but i don't think i'll ever get into/in to right
Teebore - eh, that doesn't bother me all that much.
Stina - i had it all figured out until that typo - it totes ruined me
Nicole - i don't think i use "onto" all that much, but i'm sure i'd have the same problem
Southpaw - ohhh don't even get me started on "alot"
DL - Hah! That's why my WIP is littered with incorrect semi-colons. Apparenly Word went crazy with them
"Into" and "awhile" are big confusers for me. I'm still trying to master "effect" and "affect," too.
I think there are times when "in to" should be two words and times when it should be one. Too bad I'm not clear on what those times are. I bought a really helpful grammar book recently, though, and that has helped me a ton.
Hope you had a great weekend out and about! I too have a problem sometimes with 'awhile' and sometimes 'alright'. Nasty troublesome words!
Into doesn't bother me too much. I agree with Talli--I sometimes have a problem with 'awhile' and 'alright'.
Mathew - i agree, i think it has a lot to do with the rythm of the sentence
E Elle - ooh effect and affect are pains too
Angie - yeah i'm sure if i just knew for sure when to use it as one word i'd get over this hiccup
Talli -ooh i forgot about alright - that is another word i feel should always be two words
Christine - i'm guess there's probably enough crazy words for everyone to have issues with
I don't just feel like words are misspelled, but if I say a word too many times over and over it doesn't seem right. Does that make sense? Say "into" and bunch of times. Suddenly, it doesn't sound like the right word anymore!
I'm in the awhile camp. I hate it when I'm trying to just get something down on the page and my mind jumps over a word like that.
I don't like writing 'all right'; it looks and feels better to me as 'alright'.
I love it that you are reading A Game of Thrones right now. It's one my favorites.
Rachele - ooh i have that problem all the time. I love, in Venture Brothers, when Hank says to Brock "say scuba. It's a funny word" And Brock says it and agrees
Janel - yeah i wish i could just ignore them
Ted Cross - i'm in the "all right" camp. I guess i just like two words instead of one
Great. Into never bothered me before, but now every time I look at it I'm going to think... hm, in to or into?
There is a word that I always split up, but my brain is elsewhere this morning, so...
VW: propot - a very proper cooking tool
Sonshine - sorry, didn't mean to screw you up. And now you'll never be able to write it without wondering...
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