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ColinHowell (Offline)
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Posts: 79
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Mountain View, California
10-01-2010, 11:34 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by dogsbody70 View Post
So much nit picking. enjoy yourselves folks correcting this poor old lady.
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm about to correct the correctors.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MuRaSaKiiNkI View Post
I'm graduating with a BA in English and Writing (also a native English speaker), and I agree with Columbine on this one--"into" is used for large entities, sort of taking over a certain perimeter, like a country. Moving "into" something is similar, in Hitler's case, to "invading" something. "To" is used for singular people or small groups who are just relocating without much ado. :P sorry to butt in!
While I agree with Columbine and MuRaSaKiiNkI about the use of "to" vs. "into" in this case, I'm not sure their rationale is correct. I think the key difference here is not the size of the group, but the nature of the move: whether it is a total and complete relocation or just an expansion into new ground.

When a person moves to a new home, the person is completely relocating himself.

When a group or organization moves into a territory, it is not completely relocating itself; it is simply expanding into territory it didn't occupy before.

But it is also possible for a large group or organization to completely and permanently relocate itself. In that case, I think you would use "to", not "into". Since such actions don't happen as often, it's harder to think of examples, but they do exist: for example "the Japanese government moved to Tokyo".
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