why use "come in to..." here?

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hadeshuang - 21 Nov 2004 14:59 GMT

The sentence is :

The plane is coming in to land.

I cannot understand the form of "come in to". How here comes "to"
after "in"?

Does this sentence mean that the plane is arriving at its destination
so that can I use "come in onto the land" instead?

TIA.

With best regards,
Huang

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John Ings - 21 Nov 2004 16:25 GMT

>The sentence is :
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>Does this sentence mean that the plane is arriving at its destination
>so that can I use "come in onto the land" instead?

Your problem is in misunderstanding the meaning of the word 'land' in
this case. It does not refer to the airport or the ground. It refers
to something airplanes do. We say airplanes 'take off' , 'fly' and
'land'. 'Land' in this case means the action of alighting, coming down
smoothly onto a place designated for airplanes to do so. It could be a
big seaplane coming in to alight on the water of a bay, but we would
still say "it is coming in to land".

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Owain - 21 Nov 2004 16:31 GMT

| The sentence is :
| The plane is coming in to land.
| I cannot understand the form of "come in to". How here
| comes "to" after "in"?

"to land" is a verb - the action of bringing a plane, or a plane being
brought, down to the ground, usually in a safe and controlled manner.

| Does this sentence mean that the plane is arriving at its
| destination

That's the "coming in" part.

| so that can I use "come in onto the land" instead?

No. That would be emphasising that the plane was going to come down on the
land (ground, soil, earth) rather than in the water (sea).

Owain

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einde. ocallaghan - 21 Nov 2004 17:44 GMT

<snip>

> No. That would be emphasising that the plane was going to come down on the
> land (ground, soil, earth) rather than in the water (sea).

I'd just like to point out that seaplanes land on water.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Owain - 22 Nov 2004 14:30 GMT

| Owain wrote:
| > No. That would be emphasising that the plane was going to
| > come down on the land (ground, soil, earth) rather than
| > in the water (sea).
| I'd just like to point out that seaplanes land on water.

Yes; it would be rather worrying if a seaplane was coming in to land on the
land.

Owain

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einde. ocallaghan - 22 Nov 2004 21:00 GMT

> | Owain wrote:
> | > No. That would be emphasising that the plane was going to
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Yes; it would be rather worrying if a seaplane was coming in to land on the
> land.

I thought my example was a good way to illustrate the difference between
"land" as a verb and "land" as a noun - but your counterexample is even
better.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / November 2004

why use "come in to..." here?