When to uses "On to" vs "onto"?

Question

In "Crime and Punishment " I found: "as they emerged on to the street."

Why isn't it "onto" the street?

Answer 1

Hi Lincoln,

One other way to understand using "onto" versus "on to" in your writing is with the following examples:

"I logged on to my desktop."

"He hopped onto his skateboard."

In the first sentence "on to" (with the space in between the two words) indicates that you are going on to something (in this case, logging on to your computer desktop) electronically/virtually/mentally, but not physically or actually so to speak.

Whereas in the second sentence, "he" is hopping onto (no space in between the two separate words here; thereby making it a compound word) his skateboard which is a physical object. Upon hopping onto his skateboard, he is now officially physically on top of it.

Answer 2

This question delves into the study of words and their origins, known as etymology. A quick internet search of "etymology of the word onto" leads to this page: <https://www.etymonline.com/word/onto>. It states that the word is a "closed compound" that originated from "on to" (sort of like how "altogether" is nowadays more commonly used than "all together"). The page also quotes a late 19th-century dictionary: "The word is regarded by purists as vulgar, and is avoided by careful writers."

So it would seem like "onto" started out as a way of writing "onto," but some language purists considered it improper. Such controversies can still be found today. If you were to write "alright" instead of "all right," for example, my high school composition teacher would not approve.

So in the case of Crime and Punishment, I'd say that the author used "on to" because "onto" was still looked down upon in the mid-19th century when it was written. At least I would, but there is one obvious factor to consider: The novel was originally published in Russian. So the decision to use "on to" probably wasn't Dostoyevsky's so much as the translator's. Perhaps the translator thought "on to" was a more accurate translation of the original Russian, or they figured that Dostoyevsky, having written the novel when he did, would disapprove of "onto" had he been an anglophone. Anyhow, the difference in meaning from "onto," at least in this case, is most likely negligible.