in/into
I interpret "in" as the dog had already been in the river, "into" as the dog was on the river bank before it jumped into the river.
2. Thomas fell on/onto the floor.
on: Thomas was on the floor when he fell down, and he was still on the floor after he fell down.
onto: Thomas was not on the floor and he fell on the floor.
Can the two sentences be understood as describing two different situations?
3. She got into/in Fred's car.
Do "in, "into" have the same meaning?
Thanks a lot.
Top answer
You are grammatically correct in your assessment of #1 and #2, except that native speakers often apply the static in/on to active into/onto situations, and since the cases of the dog already in the river and the fellow already on the floor are not very likely, a native listener would interpret both The dog jumped in/into the river and Thomas fell on/onto the floor as instances where the dog is still onshore and Thomas is still aloft. A fortiori, since there is no chance whatsoever of her 'getting' after already having entered the vehicle, the only interpretation for She got into/in Fred's car is that she was outside on the sidewalk at the outset.
- You are grammatically correct in your assessment of #1 and #2, except that native speakers often apply the static in/on to active into/onto situations, and since the cases of the dog already in the river and the fellow already on the floor are not very likely, a native listener would interpret both The dog jumped in/into the river and Thomas fell on/onto the floor as instances where the dog is still onshore and Thomas is still aloft.
- A fortiori, since there is no chance whatsoever of her 'getting' after already having entered the vehicle, the only interpretation for She got into/in Fred's car is that she was outside on the sidewalk at the outset.
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