Prepositions of
Movement, Destination & Position
We used "into" and "onto" to talk about movement and destination.
into
... to signify movement towards the inside of something
Example: Beannie is inserting the graded assignments into the slots. onto
... to signify movement towards the surface of something
Example: Beannie is jumping onto the table.
After some verbs (e.g., dive, jump, push, put, throw), in and into are interchangeble; so are on and onto. However, it is preferable to use into/onto when we talk about movement and destination; use in/on for where somebody or something will be (i.e., position) at the end of the movement. Movement & Destination Position at the end of movement
Beannie dived into the water.
Beannie is in the water.
Beannie fell onto the grass.
Beannie is on the grass.
to, toward & towards
After verbs of movement (e.g., move, drive, fly, go, ride, run, swim, walk), we can use both to and toward (towards) to talk about movement.
But note the difference in meanings.
- to = movement toward a destination
The passenger said, "Take me to the airport." (The airport is his destination.)- toward/towards = movement in a particular direction
The man was running down the stairs towards the door. (The door is not his destination; it is somewhere beyond the door.)Main Index | Prepositions Index | LESOL © Virtual Teacher Aide