Onto vs On To - The Difference Between the Two

Onto vs On To - The Difference Between the Two There are a number of words which can be confusing to those using English. Some examples include was vs were, who vs whom, and further vs farther. Another of those is onto and on to. They look so similar, and yet they are so different. When youre talking, nobodys going to be looking for a space between on and to, but when youre writing, that little space can make the difference between correct work and an embarrassing mistake. Theres actually quite a big difference between on to and onto, but theres also a really simple way to know which one of these options you should be using at any given time. Well first look at the reasons, and then well check out the cheat that will solve your dilemma without too much grammatical analysis. The big difference explained When to use onto Onto could, in many instances, be replaced with the less commonly used upon. It simply means that something landed on, was placed on top of or ended up on something else. Although you might be pardoned for thinking it to be an adverb, its actually a preposition. For example: The frog jumped onto the stone. My cat crept onto my lap. I dont know how the mayonnaise got onto my sweater. In informal language, onto is also used to show that youre on top of a situation, or well-informed: Im onto your sneaky plan! Ill be onto the next task as soon as this one is done. When to use on to In this instance on is part of a phrase containing a verb and acts as an adverb, while to is a preposition linked to an object. For example: She held on to the steering wheel. I will log on to your website. We had to move on to the next exhibit. On is associated with the verbs held, log and move in these examples, while to links us to the object of the sentence the steering wheel, the website or the exhibit. An easy cheat To save yourself from the tricky business of sentence analysis every time you have to decide whether or not youll use on to or onto, try this cheat. In most cases, it will clarify which of the two you should use. Try taking the word up and see how it fits into the sentence if you use it before on. If its a good fit, onto is likely to be the correct word choice. So, using the first of each of our sets of examples: The frog jumped (up) onto the stone. She held (up) on to the starring wheel. As we can see, up fits well into the first example, but doesnt make any sense in the second. This cheat works nine times out of ten, but there may still be times when choosing between on and onto can be confusing. For instance: We wandered on to the football field. We wandered onto the football field. These sentences are both correct, but they have slightly different meanings. In the first example, the speaker and his companions wandered from one place to another. They didnt necessarily end up on the football field itself, but they chose to approach it. They moved on from one place to another. In the second example, the group of people ended up on the football field itself. This could be compared with the frog jumping (up) onto a stone. So when all else fails, analysing the meaning you are trying to convey may help you with your dilemma. In conclusion As insignificant as the difference between onto and on to may seem, there are specific instances in which one or the other will be the correct choice. Working out which of the two is correct can be achieved by analysing the sentence, by checking on meaning, or by trying the word up before on as a cheat. If the sentence still makes sense with up inserted, then onto is correct.