atw: Re: Into Linguistic semantics. [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
- From: Howard.Silcock@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 10:44:02 +1100
In the New Fowler's Modern English Usage, it says this about 'into' versus
'in to': "the two words should be written separately when the sense is
separate, most commonly when 'in' is a full adverb and 'to' is an
infinitive marker and means 'in order to'". He gives the examples: 'People
dropped in to see him', 'the maid looked in to ask if they wanted coffee'
and 'the Secretary of State, George Shultz, slipped in to replace Reagan'.
The implication appears to be that otherwise you should write 'into'.
Example: 'he was reduced to staring into the water'.
That doesn't seem to be a very clear and definite rule, but I'd say your
example would fall into [not 'fall in to'!] the second category, so it
should read 'putting new files into the course resources folder'.
Your example reminds me of another question that I often ponder about. In
forming a phrase like 'resources folder', when would you leave the first
word in the plural? We wouldn't say 'peas soup', even though it would be
made with more than one pea, or 'cakes shop' or 'four doors car'. Yet
there are cases where we do use the plural, such as 'Senate estimates
committee'.
When I was working on maintenance procedures for submarines, the French
engineer wanted to use the heading 'Grounding straps cleaning'. I changed
it to 'Grounding strap cleaning' and told him that, even though there was
more than one grounding strap, his wording just didn't sound right - and
then I probably gave him the 'four door car' example. But I've never found
a discussion of this topic in any book on usage.
There's another question you can ponder while you have the time, Warren!
Howard
"Warren Lewington" <warren.lewington@xxxxxxxxxx>
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atw: Into Linguistic semantics.
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TRIM File Ref
Hello all. I was wondering about this. I have written "... putting new
files into the course resources folder."
I debated with myself whether it could be "...putting new files in to the
course folder."
I resorted to the preceding verb rule; that 'in' should be tied to a
preceding verb. I am curious about the "putting new files" phrase. Could
you use "...in to..." or is that just plain bad form? Or, conversely,
should you really use "into"?
I hope this isn't too obvious a question. It seems to me you could go
either way... In any case, it is really nice to have the time in a gig to
actually really think about the context and usage of the writing. Maybe I
am thinking too much, it could explain the headache.
Regards to all;
Warren.
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