"we're nearly eight months in and there's no end in sight."

[h.ryo]

Dear Forum members,

There is a question about the usage of "in" in the following sentence, which is from a BBC news article.

There's little doubt that the Russian president is under pressure. His so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine has gone badly wrong for him.
It was supposed to last a few days. But we're nearly eight months in and there's no end in sight. (the emphasis is mine)

[from "What is Vladimir Putin thinking and planning?" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63231823)]

I first wondered if there is an omission of words after the "in," such as "we're nearly eight months in [the war]." But then I am still not sure if such an omission is common or formal.
I looked up several dictionaries and tried to find a fitting definition of "in" used as an adverb, but I could not find one that really suits the above context.

The author of the quoted article also appears in a BCC news video as a reporter. At about 0:31 in the video, he also uses "in" in a similar way:

His war in Ukraine has not gone according to plan. But more than eight months in, from Vladimir Putin, there were no regrets, No remorse.

[from "Putin says world faces “most dangerous decade” since WW2 - BBC News" (

)

In both examples, getting the gist of what the author means might not be very hard, but I have a question as to how to grammatically explain the "in" in those sentences: is "in" preposition, adverb, or adjective? and which of the definitions best explains it?

Thank you very much for your reading, and I appreciate it very much if any suggestions, illuminations, or guidance would kindly be given.

Best,
Ryo

 

[Barque]

I'm not sure how to explain it but it's perfectly idiomatic. It means "We're nearly eight months into the war".

So I suppose it's a preposition? I'm not a grammarian. I'm not good at explaining grammar. But I know it's correct.

I first wondered if there is an omission of words after the "in," such as "we're nearly eight months in [the war]." But then I still have doubts if such an omission is common or even necessary.

Yes, there's an omission. It's short for "into the war/conflict/invasion". It's common. I don't know what you mean by "necessary" however. It's a natural and slightly informal way of putting it.

 

[Barque]

But then I still have doubts if such an omission is common or even necessary.

Your sentence isn't correctly worded. But I still doubt that such an omission is common or even necessary.

 

[h.ryo]

I'm not sure how to explain it but it's perfectly idiomatic. It means "We're nearly eight months into the war".

So I suppose it's a preposition? I'm not a grammarian. I'm not good at explaining grammar. But I know it's correct.


Yes, there's an omission. It's short for "into the war/conflict/invasion". It's common. I don't know what you mean by "necessary" however. It's a natural and slightly informal way of putting it.

Thank you very much for your comment, Barque.
By "necessary" I wanted to mean something like "formal" or "recommended."

According to your comment, so far it seems to me the following definition from OED best fits the context: "11. b. Included or involved in a particular enterprise, undertaking, action, etc." (Here "in" is adverb).
Example sentence: 1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xxxi. 272 "As long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog."

But I'm still not very sure.

 

[Barque]

so far it seems to me the following definition from OED best fits the context: "11. b. Included or involved in a particular enterprise, undertaking, action, etc." (Here "in" is adverb).
Example sentence: 1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xxxi. 272 "As long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog."

I agree.

 

[5jj]

The important thing is that you understand the sense, h.ryo. Finding a dictionary definition that precisely fits that, or deciding what word class/part of speech it is are not important in the grand scheme of things.

 

[h.ryo]

The important thing is that you understand the sense,h.ryo. FInding a dictionary definition that precisely fits that, or deciding what word class/part of speech it is are not important in the grand scheme of things.

Thank you for your advice. I agree with you. As an international Ph.D. student in English, though, I am interested more in what word class it is. Maybe I should have asked this question at a different forum.

 

[5jj]

You are welcome to ask the question here, though if you are seriously interested in word classes, I would suggest that you ask it in our linguistics section. I warn you that you won't get a definitive answer. Traditionally. 'in' would have been classed as an adverb in that sentence, though many today would consider it a preposition.