Which is correct:
"Dive right in to why you're involved"
or
"Dive right into why you're involved"
My guess is that the first is correct, since "in" is a part of "dive right in" and should be treated as a word separate from "to".
Which is correct:
"Dive right in to why you're involved"
or
"Dive right into why you're involved"
My guess is that the first is correct, since "in" is a part of "dive right in" and should be treated as a word separate from "to".
I would say: "Dive right into why you're involved". I think the idiom can even be described as either "Dive right in" or "Dive right into (something)". So the "to" is actually a part of the idiom. Furthermore, if you remove the word "right" in your sentence, doesn't "Dive into why you're involved" sound more correct than "Dive in to why you're involved".
I can see the point, but I would always use into
here, as it is definitely correct usage and leaves no confusion in the mind of reader that it might be an error on the part of the writer.
I have no issues with dive right in
in a sentence like Dive right in and get involved
So let's dive into this question to answer it.
None of your options is correct. The right sentence would be:
"Dive right in, [as to] why you're involved"
Let's look at cambridge.org:
The phrasal verb is dive in/dive into something and not dive in to.
You could rephrase your sentence like this:
"Dive right into the question, why you're involved"
Here you use into as you have the something as target for your diving which is "the question". If you omit the something you should change from "into" to "to".
See the examples of to break in/break into something.
- The burglars disabled the alarm and used a glass cutter to break into the house.
- Thieves broke in and stole jewellery worth thousands of pounds.
The first sentence has the target "the house". In sentence two the target is omitted, so break in is used.
From the second sentence we can deduct a reason for the action and here we will finally find the break in to
- Thieves break in to steal jewellery.
- Thieves break into houses to steal jewellery.
For all the people that might say:
The verb is dive in so dive into must be wrong, and camebridge.org is wrong!
let us look at other dictionaries:
When you ever come across a situation involving into and in to, you have to look at the different verbs and phrasal verbs and examine their meanings.
Dive - To plunge into something, usually water
Dive in - To enthusiastically start doing something
I'm fairly sure you want to use the latter verb in this case. Because prepositions become adverbs within phrasal verbs, it is therefore wrong to mix the adverb in with the preposition to. In the end, you come out with the sentence Dive right in to why you're involved. The method I used comes from Grammar Girl. You can check her page on this out if you want further help.
Sources
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/dive-in
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/in-to-or-into?page=1
EDIT: It is correct to use dive into when something is plunging because then, the verb is dive.
He dove into the pool.
BUT
He dove in to his pizza because the verb is "dive in," meaning "to help oneself to food." (Google)