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TOEIC Link Part 5 — into vs in to: The One-Word Test That Splits the Preposition From the Adverb

Part 5 blanks into and in to knowing that learners see the same three letters and pick by habit. This guide gives you the one-word-versus-two-words test that fixes into as a single preposition of motion and in to as a collided adverb-plus-infinitive, exposes the phrasal-verb trap where in belongs to the verb, maps the business collocations that lock each spelling, and works the distractor logic on workplace examples.

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The regional manager stepped ____ the conference room just as the vote closed. The options offer into, in to, onto, and in for, and learners stall because into and in to look like the same word split two ways. The answer is into, and choosing it reliably has nothing to do with meaning-by-sound and everything to do with whether the two words belong together or just happen to sit side by side. This guide gives you the test that assigns the two spellings every time, plus the phrasal-verb trap TOEIC uses to catch anyone who never learned that in sometimes belongs to the verb, not to what follows.

The rule that actually works: one preposition vs two colliding words

Ninety percent of Part 5 items with this pair resolve on one mechanical fact — is this one word doing one job, or two words doing two jobs?

  • into (one word) is a single preposition showing movement toward the inside of something, or transformation. She walked into the office. The startup grew into a market leader.
  • in to (two words) is an adverb in plus a separate to that got pushed together by word order. The to almost always belongs to an infinitive (to submit, to check) or to a following phrase. He came in to submit his report. (= came in, in order to submit)

So the test is: try replacing the blank with the single word into and see if the sentence still means motion-toward-the-inside. If it does, write into. If the to is really the start of an infinitive — you can read it as "in order to" — the words are colliding by accident and you write in to. In the opening item, "stepped ____ the conference room" is pure motion into an enclosed space, so into passes: into. You never weigh what the phrase "means" in the abstract — you test whether the two words fuse. This is the same "read the structural job, not the surface" discipline that governs in, on, and at as time prepositions, where the right choice is pinned to the size of the time unit rather than to instinct.

Trap 1: the phrasal verb owns the "in" — so the "to" splits off

Here is the reversal TOEIC weaponizes most. Many business verbs are phrasal verbs ending in in — turn in, hand in, drop in, check in, come in, call in, log in, bring in. When one of these is followed by a to-phrase, the in is glued to the verb, and the to is a separate word:

  • Please **turn in** your timesheet **to** the front desk. → turn in to (two words)
  • He **dropped in to** say hello. → the in completes drop in; to say is an infinitive

The classic trap sentence is Please turn your report ____ the compliance officer — learners write into because the letters fit, but turn in is the phrasal verb ("submit") and to marks the recipient, so it must be in to. The tell: if removing in breaks the verb's meaning (turn ___ your report loses "submit"), the in belongs to the verb and you have two words. This "one particle secretly belongs to the verb" logic is the same thing that makes beside and besides split on whether the word is a place preposition or a set-phrase adverb.

Trap 2: transformation and contact senses are still one word

The second reversal runs the other way. Into covers more than physical entry — it also marks transformation, collision/contact, and division, and all of these stay one word:

  • Transformation: The plan turned **into** a disaster. Translate the memo **into** Japanese.
  • Contact: The delivery truck backed **into** the loading dock.
  • Division: Split the budget **into** four quarters.
  • Investigation: The auditors looked **into** the discrepancy.

TOEIC plants in to as the distractor here because look in, back in, and turn in are all real phrasal verbs — but in these sentences the to is not an infinitive and not a recipient marker; it fuses with in to mean transformation or contact. The tell: if to is followed by a noun and the sense is becoming, hitting, dividing, or investigating, it is one word — into.

The business collocations that lock the choice

Part 5 pulls this pair from a stable set of workplace frames:

  • into (one word) — enter into an agreement, look into a matter, turn X into Y, translate into, divide into, tap into, run into problems, move into a new market.
  • in to (two words) — turn in to (submit to a person), hand in to, come in to + infinitive, call in to (a meeting), log in to (a system), drop in to say/see.

Two deserve a flag. Enter into an agreement is a fixed one-word collocation — the into is frozen and a blank there is never two words. Conversely log in to the portal is now standardly two words (the in completes log in, to the portal is the destination) — a common trap because the noun login misleads. Match the frozen frame, not the letters. This "the collocation decides, not the parts" behavior mirrors how affect and effect resolve on fixed phrases like take effect rather than on the base rule.

Worked examples

1. The two firms have decided to enter ____ a long-term supply agreement. Options: in to / into / onto / in for. Enter into an agreement is a frozen one-word collocation — into.

2. All contractors must hand their badges ____ the security desk on the final day. Options: into / in to / onto / in for. Hand in is the phrasal verb (submit) and to the security desk names the recipient — two words: in to.

3. Analysts were asked to look ____ the sudden drop in Q3 revenue. Options: in to / into / onto / in for. Look into means investigate, followed by a noun — one word: into.

4. Several staff came ____ finalize the merger paperwork over the weekend. Options: into / in to / onto / in for. Came in plus the infinitive to finalize ("in order to") — two words: in to.

The two-second procedure for exam day

  1. Try the single word into. If the sentence still means motion-inside, transformation, contact, or division with a noun after it, write into.
  2. Hunt for a phrasal verb ending in in. If removing in breaks the verb (turn in, hand in, log in, drop in), the in is glued to the verb and the to splits off — write in to.
  3. Check whether to starts an infinitive. If you can read it as "in order to" + a verb, it is two words: in to.

Run those three steps and the pair stops being a spelling coin flip — it becomes a one-word-versus-two-words parse you can do the same way every time. For the wider habit of resolving preposition choices by structural role rather than by ear, revisit how in, on, and at lock to the size of the time unit rather than to instinct.