On vs. Onto

I get these confused all the time...

Basically, when do you use the word "on" and when do you use the word "onto?"

It seems to me that they are interchangable, but there probably is a better explanation than that.

I always use the word onto if it involves movement like, "He put the meat onto the plate" rather that "He put the meat on the plate" Where as I'd use on if it was something that was already there like "The meat was on the plate." I don't know if that was any use to you at all. I could just be stating the obvious. I tend to do it alot.

Eww...

Hard question to answer. I guess it really makes no difference because they both mean the same thing, yes? I personally use 'onto'. It just sounds better to my ears. I do, however, change between the two so it doesn't sound so repetitive. But I mainly use 'onto.'

They can't be the same though...

"The radio turned on."

So... there are places it isn't interchangable. But when you seem to use "on" for positioning... Hmm...

Onto still seems a little bit more specific when it comes to placing objects.

I usually just put which one sounds better in the sentence. I'm sure that's not the correct way to use them but it's worked for me so far.

"Oh shiz, he's onto me!" can mean he knows I have an intention.
"Oh shiz, he's on me!" can mean he he knows my intention.

"He put the food on the plate"
"He put the food onto the plate"

Those 2 mean exactly the same thing. However, it seems "on" means anywhere on the plate. Onto sounds more organized for some reason. No ignore this.

I've always seen 'onto' as more of an action and 'on' as a place, for example:

she turned the radio onto the rock station

she turned the radio on the rock station

the plate sat on the stack.
The plate sat onto the stack

does anybody get what I'm trying to say? or is it just me?

Yeah, given the two examples that you gave there, that makes a lot of sense, Shadow... *goes off to see if it works for all examples, or whether it's just those two*

I think it works for all... Unless someone would like to produce one that it doesn't...

Shadowdancers examples make no sense to me, but ... maybe thats just me. Personally, I use on or onto depending on which sounds better in the sentence, or which makes better sense.

e. g.

"the cat jumped onto the table" means the cat jumped up to the table
"the cat jumped on the table" means (to me) that the cat was on the table, and it jumped while on there.

I dont know. Maybe I'm just weird.

"the cat jumped onto the table" means the cat jumped up to the table
"the cat jumped on the table" means (to me) that the cat was on the table, and it jumped while on there.

That does make complete sense to me Bubblewrapped, So i'll grab a dictonary and look them both up, see if its any help.

On - above and touchin, at, near, towards etc.; attached to; concerning; performed upon; during; taking regularly

Onto- on top of

gee, i don't know if that helps or not. Snoink maybe all depends on the writer.