in

 

The word "in" can be used as a preposition, an adjective, or as an adverb. It has many interesting applications, but generally we use the word "in" to show that a person or a thing is inside, within, included, a part, or available.

ball in glove…in his glove

  • The ball is in his glove. (preposition)
  • The passengers are in the plane. (preposition)
  • Their flight is in. (adjective)
  • They flew in from New York. (adverb)

You can use "in" when something arrives or is present:

  • When will they be in? (When will they arrive?)
  • The doctor isn’t in right now. He’ll be in later. (He isn’t present. He isn’t there.)
  • A large shipment of furniture is in.
  • Are you going to be in tomorrow? (in = at work)
  • What time will you be in?

You can use "in" with many different verbs to form idioms. Some idioms are hard to understand, but these examples might help:

  • Come in. Hi. Welcome to my home. Come in.
  • Go in. Cathy has to go in for a check up tomorrow.
  • Move in. We found a new apartment. Next week we’re going to move in.
  • Drive in. Gordon drove all the way in from Alaska.
  • Eat in. Do you want to eat out tonight or eat in?
  • Weigh in. The boxers needed to weigh in before their fight.
  • Walk in. Tracy doesn’t have an appointment to get her hair cut. She’s just going to walk in.
  • Run in. I need to run in and get something in my house. Will you wait here?
  • Fly in. Denise flew in this morning from Houston.
  • Turn in. The office manager told Juanita to turn in her keys after she was fired.
  • Hand in. The teacher asked the students to hand in their assignments.
  • Step in. The police should step in before this situation gets out of control.
  • Sit in. I’d like to see what you are teaching today. Do you mind if I sit in?
  • Sleep in. Bruce sleeps in until about noon on Saturday because he doesn’t have to go to school.
  • Check in. When we arrive at the hotel, we’ll need to check in.
  • Stop in. Next time you’re in Chicago, you should stop in for a visit.

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This page was first published on March 25, 2012. It was updated on April 9, 2015.