Prepositions: in or within? | in, to, or into? | English Vocabulary Lesson

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Hello and welcome everyone to this presentation  on some prepositions. The presentation is based  

on a question that Jesus has asked me, and the  question is this - let me share my screen with  

you - it was: how to use 'within' and 'without'.  Now, we are in the realm of prepositions,  

so I thought I would add a few of my own favourite  prepositions into the mix, which is: in, into,  

and to. So, we're going to look at how to use  these prepositions correctly and what some common  

mistakes are that we make with them. So, we're  going to look at 'within' and 'in' to begin with  

because they often get confused with each other  when we speak about a period of time. 'within + a  

period of time' means 'inside a certain period of  time', but 'in' means 'after a certain period of  

time'. For example, if it's 11 a.m. - if it's  11 in the morning, and I say to you: I'll send  

you the link within the next two hours, you will  receive the link sometime between now and 1 p.m.,  

so sometime before 1 p.m. It may be 12 noon;  it may be in five minutes; that's the period  

within which you will receive it. But, if  it's 11 in the morning, and I say to you:  

I'll send you the link in 2 hours, that is after  2 hours, so I'm planning to send you the link at 1  

p.m. That is a very important distinction to make  when you're talking about a period of time with  

these two prepositions. Now, we also use these  two prepositions for a place. When we use them  

in the context of a place, they mean very much  the same thing. They mean 'inside'. But in usage,  

it's more common to use 'within' with abstract  places, for example: within the organisation,  

within limits, or within the agreement and better  to use then 'in' with concrete places, like:  

in the building, in the box, in a town. So this is  just a guideline. Sometimes you may hear 'in' used  

with abstract places or 'within' with concrete  places, but for your own usage, if you are in  

doubt, think about that. Keep it to 'within' when  it's abstract and to 'in' when it's concrete. So,  

that's about 'within' and 'in'. Let's now look  at 'without' because that was Jesus's question.  

He was contrasting 'within' and 'without'.  Well, in actual fact, in modern in English,  

'within' and 'without' have no connection with  each other. It looks as if 'without' must be the  

opposite of 'within', but it isn't. 'without' is  the opposite of 'with', and I think you all know  

that. For example, you would say: Would you like  your coffee with or without milk? So, what is the  

opposite of 'within' or 'in'? The opposite of  these two words is 'outside' because remember  

'in' and 'within' mean 'inside'. So the opposite  is 'outside'. For example: within the organisation  

and outside the organisation, in the box - outside  the box. Right, that's that. Now, let's look at  

'in' and 'to'. Again very common mistake between  these two prepositions I hear. Use 'in' with a  

stationary verb, for example: stay in in a hotel,  or eat in the canteen, or jog in the park. Right.  

I know 'jog' seems like a verb of movement, but  you are thinking of where it's taking place. And  

then, use 'to' with a destination, like with a  movement verb towards a destination. For example:  

walk to school, drive to work, fly to Miami.  Actually, if you look at my hand gestures,  

it makes it pretty clear. We have 'in' and 'to'.  Right? So: destination or place where something  

is happening. So, that brings us to now 'to' for  a destination and 'into'. 'into' combines the idea  

of movement towards, so the 'to' and the place  where we end up in. We end up inside a place. So  

again, hand movements help here. So, we had 'to',  we had 'in', and now, we have 'into'. So that's  

really the idea: 'into'. So for example, you have  a pool, and you jump, which is the movement, into  

the pool. You end up in the pool. For example:  you can walk to a store; you're at the door of  

the store, and then you walk into a store. Or, you  can run to the lounge; you arrive at the lounge,  

and then you enter it, so you are running into  the lounge. It brings the two ideas together. Now  

sometimes, this 'to' is dropped, and you can hear  things like 'get in the car'. Again we have this  

idea of 'get in the car' or 'go in the garden'.  I'm just mentioning it so that if you hear these,  

you don't get confused. But she said 'don't use  'in' with a verb of movement'. It is again native  

speakers. They sometimes take Liberties; they get  lazy. So, it is just for you to know that that can  

happen. But, I wouldn't recommend that you think  about that. Just remember these hand movements  

again: 'to', 'in', and 'into', and keep it strict  like that. So that brings us to maybe... I've put  

these four prepositions in a little context for  you. I'll read the sentences out: We went to my  

favourite restaurant the other night: destination.  As soon as we stepped into the restaurant - now  

it's the idea of being inside - I knew we had the  wrong, we had made the wrong choice. There wasn't  

a single free table in the whole restaurant, and  we were told that a table could become free within  

the next 30 to 40 minutes. So, that kind of brings  all these prepositions together in one context.  

Right, then, as I was preparing the lesson, I  thought of a few other things that I often hear  

mistakes or confusions about. So one of them is  the difference between 'been in' and 'been to'.  

The difference is: if you have been in a place,  you're still there; if you have been to a place,  

you have visited the place and you have returned.  Again putting it in context will make it a bit  

more clear. For example: in a dialogue, someone  says: Where's Nikki? She's in Mexico, and she  

has been in Mexico for five weeks. She's still  there. That's quite straightforward. But then,  

in this conversation, 'Have you been to Mexico?'  obviously, you're here, so you're not in Mexico,  

'Have you been to Mexico?' means 'Have you visited  Mexico?' Have you been to that country and come  

back? And the answer is: Yes, I went to Mexico  last year. So it has more the sense of going  

to a destination. Right. I hope that clarifies  that tricky difference that I sometimes hear  

mistakes with. And then yes, I remembered some  common mistakes I hear from yourselves when we  

have lessons. So, I've listed them here for you.  For example, I often hear 'invest into something'.  

It's 'invest in something'. Then, the other one:  'translate to' is 'translate into'. There's a  

sense of movement from one thing into another.  A very common mistake is 'a visit in', like 'We  

really enjoyed our visit in Thailand.' It's never  'a visit in' for some reason; it's 'a visit to'.  

Again here, there isn't much logic. These are  verbs, expressions that take this particular  

preposition. And one thing with 'go', with the  word 'home', don't use 'to'. Don't say 'go to  

home'. Just say 'go home'. So, these are some  mistakes that happen because they're irregular  

things. They don't follow any particular logic.  Now, then I thought of two verbs that can be even  

more confusing, so let's look at them: The mistake  I often hear is 'change in something'. Actually,  

'change': you either 'change to' or 'change into'.  There's a little difference. If you 'change to',  

you're replacing, you're removing something and  replacing it with something else. For example: the  

colour changed to green. Let's say it was blue,  and then blue went and green came. So, that's  

'change to'. It's a replacement whereas 'change  into' is a kind of transformation. For example:  

you're having a dream and the same dream changes  into a nightmare. So be careful with these, with  

this verb. And last but not least, we have the  verb 'enter, that I hear sometimes mistakes with  

'enter and the preposition. I often hear 'enter  in'. Two possibilities: If it's a concrete place,  

like the building, or the the office, or the  house, drop the preposition. 'enter' means  

'go into' really, so just use 'enter' without any  preposition: They've entered the building. Right?  

But, if it's more an abstract idea, for example  an agreement, then it's better and more correct to  

say: They've entered into an agreement. So, it's  the difference between again a concrete place and  

an abstract thing, idea, or place. Right, that's  the end of the presentation. I hope it's given you  

some clarity on how to use these prepositions  correctly. I hope you've enjoyed this lesson.  

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