This Week's Prepositions

Into / Onto

Phantom cat jumping onto a chair

• We use into and onto to talk about directions and destinations - where things are going.

Compare:

          She's in  her bedroom getting dressed. (She's inside her room.)
           She went into her bedroom to get dressed. (You actually picture her entering the room.)

          The cat is on the chair.
          The cat jumped onto the chair. (You actually picture the moggy leave the floor.)

• The opposite of into is out of.  Having finished dressing, she walked out of her bedroom.
• The opposite of onto is down from. The cat jumped down from the wall.

• We also use into for change.

          When she kissed the prince, he changed into an ugly frog.
          Can you translate this into Spanish?

• What's the difference between into and in to? And onto and on to? See here.