Is it: Hold on to the rope. Hold on to your hats. Or should the one-word form "onto" be used in those two? Sincerely, Jake
I asked myself the same question yesterday. Thankfully it's slightly more straight forward than the who / whom conundrum. Your answer lies in Rule 3 On to vs. Onto Rule 1: In general, use onto as one word to mean “on top of,” “to a position on,” “upon.” Examples: He climbed onto the roof. Let’s step onto the dance floor. Rule 2: Use onto when you mean “fully aware of,” “informed about.” Examples: I’m onto your scheme. We canceled Julia’s surprise party when we realized she was onto our plan. Rule 3: Use on to, two words, when on is part of the verb. Examples: We canceled Julia’s surprise party when we realized she caught on to our plan. (caught on is a verb phrase) I’m going to log on to the computer. (log on is a verb phrase)
