grammar - "Checked into the database" versus "checked in to the database"





When should “into” be used rather than “in to,” and vice versa?



I was recently submitting ("checking in") some data to a database and composed an email to my team informing them of the submission. What's the proper grammar to use here:



The changes are checked into the database



or



The changes are checked in to the database



What's the rule of thumb for proper usage between the two? Is there even a difference?



Answer



In this case, definitely write it as separate words, because the "in" is actually part of the idiom "checked in".


I think that's probably as close as you're gonna get to a rule of thumb: write into as one word, unless it's actually functioning as two different words - for example, if the "in" is part of an expression such as "checked in".


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