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People log in to Facebook.

In this sentence, if I change log in to log-in, will it be grammatically incorrect? Or the adding/omission of a hyphen is just a matter of style?

The other thing is, if log in is listed in dictionaries as a phrasal verb and log-in is not listed as a phrasal verb, will citing the dictionaries be a sufficient reason to say that adding a hyphen in log in is grammatically incorrect?

Chenmunka
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user1764381
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2 Answers2

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In formal English, adding the hyphen to log in makes your sample sentence grammatically incorrect.

The hyphen has the effect of turning the phrasal verb into an adjective or a noun. For example, these sentences are valid:

Click here to go to the log-in page.

Upon successful log-in, you will be redirected to the subscription page.

This rule mostly applies to more formal usage. I would say your average native English speaker is entirely unaware of how hyphens work with phrasal verbs.

In practical usage, especially on the Internet, "log in" is often shortened to "login," and "login" is often used as a noun, adjective, or verb.

Here's a good page on hyphenation of phrasal verbs:

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/phrasal-verbs

Ringo
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    I sadly have to agree with the statement about native English speakers not understanding hyphens in phrasal verbs. I've been surprised several times when people I know couldn't distinguish "Log in" from "Log-in/Login" and other similar terms, when I personally feel it makes a big difference. – Harris Oct 16 '17 at 17:28
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    Funny story, I just asked my father what the difference between login and log-in is. He does the NYT crossword every day, so I figured he would be a good person to ask. He knew that to "wake up" wouldn't take a hyphen, but that a "wake-up call" would. But he couldn't explain why. I think there are probably a lot of people like that. – Ringo Oct 16 '17 at 17:37
  • Related: Could it also be "log into"? – Barmar Oct 16 '17 at 18:43
  • @Barmar Ask that as a separate question. –  Oct 16 '17 at 18:45
  • @Barmar I would say "Log Onto" is not a common phrasal verb. I have never seen "log onto" or "log-onto." I have seen "log-on," but that is almost an outdated variation of "log-in." – Ringo Oct 16 '17 at 19:04
  • I have seen "log into" and even "log onto", but to me both look wrong. I consider them misspellings of "log in to" and "log on to", respectively. – cHao Oct 16 '17 at 20:20
  • Right, I think *log onto* or *log into* is sometimes used, and I don't think they're incorrect. But I don't consider them phrasal verbs, so I think a *log-onto page* or a *log-into page* would be incorrect. – Ringo Oct 17 '17 at 00:30
  • If log into is not a phrasal verb, it looks like it doesn't fit with People log into Facebook since it could mean something like recording (a synonym of log) something into Facebook. – user1764381 Oct 18 '17 at 05:10
  • @user1764381: Yes, "log into Facebook" means to record your credentials as you enter the Facebook website. It's the same idea as if you entered a secure office building and had to "log into the guest book" before you entered the building. In this case, I believe "log into the book" is short for something like: "record your log entry into the book." Most large-scale websites do keep track of when, where, and how (web browser, tablet, phone) you log in. That's part of the profile they build on you so they can target advertising successfully. – Ringo Oct 18 '17 at 05:49
  • What I'm trying to say is, *log in to, log on to, log into, and log onto* all mean you are recording your credentials as you enter a website. The actual file on the web server where your login entry is stored is called a "log file." – Ringo Oct 18 '17 at 06:01
  • With A user logs in to Facebook, we can have A user logged in to Facebook and There is a logged-in user. With log into, since it is not a phrasal verb, I find There is a logged user or a user is logged awkward. How about log in into? Or maybe this could be posted as an entirely different topic/question. – user1764381 Oct 19 '17 at 05:47
  • If you *logged into* Facebook or *logged in to* Facebook, then you would say *I am a logged-in user. Just forget about the to* in this case. Yes, *there is a logged user* and *user is logged* and *log in into* are all very awkward and/or incorrect. I would say, don't worry too much about the difference between *into* and *in to* in this context. The latter is slightly better, but both are valid and common. – Ringo Oct 19 '17 at 06:08
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[Quick answer to be cleaned up later...]

Phrase was originally, "Please log into the system." Or reaching back further "Please log on to the system". Through speech, people dropped the preposition at the end believing the context was already implicit in their situation. This yielded "Could you log in again, Joe?" And "Log in with your username."

At some point, the datum entered when attempting to login became the login - a noun. it likely coexisted with the form "log-in" as many new nouns do initially.

Presently, i see two relevant questions regarding the verb "to login": which spelling is least ambiguous and which spelling is most popular?

uberhitzt
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