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Bluealbatross Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

sneak into or sneak onto. confusing.

I read the sentence below the previous day: (this sentence comes from a writer from Boston)

My friends and I sneaked onto a Northwest Airline's DC-10 at Logan Airport. There was nobody else on the plane but us.

My question: Is it sneak onto or sneak into correct?. I have a problem to understand why the write used the preposition onto ( into a position on an object or surface) instead of into (entering a place, building, or vehicle).

I'm really confused.

Thank you ever so much.
  

Top answer

If there is something you would ride or go ON, then you would sneak onto it. If you would ride or go IN it, then you sneak into it. You ride on a bus, so you sneak onto it.

— BarbaraPA

  • If there is something you would ride or go ON, then you would sneak onto it.
  • If you would ride or go IN it, then you sneak into it.
  • You ride on a bus, so you sneak onto it.
  • You go in a building, so you sneak into it.
  • You fly on a DC-10, so sneak onto it.
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1 Answers
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If there is something you would ride or go ON, then you would sneak onto it. If you would ride or go IN it, then you sneak into it.

You ride on a bus, so you sneak onto it. You go in a building, so you sneak into it. You fly on a DC-10, so sneak onto it. (Although I don't recommend that as a course of action!)
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