Check in means to arrive and register at a hotel, or at the airport before a flight; check in luggage means to hand over your bags. At work, check in with someone means to contact a person and find out how things are going. The noun check-in is written with a hyphen.
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check in (at + hotel/desk); check into + hotel; check in for + flight; check in + luggage; check in with + person
- If you arrive early, you can leave your bags at reception before you check in.
- You can check in for your flight online a day before departure.
- I'll check in with the team on Friday to see how the project is going.
What changed
First versionWe checked in the hotel around midnight and went straight to bed.
RevisionWe checked in at the hotel around midnight and went straight to bed.
Without a preposition, hotel looks like the object of check in, as in check in your bags (hand over your bags). To name the place, use at or check into: checked in at the hotel, checked into the hotel. Here it is enough to add at.
Register means to put your name on a list, to sign up: register for a course, register on a website. Check in means to report that you have arrived: check in at reception. For hotels and airports, you need check in.
Your turn
We arrived at the airport early and ___ our suitcases before having breakfast.
Show the answer
checked in — Handing over suitcases at the airport is check in, so checked in. Registered may seem to fit because the process is often called registration, but English doesn't use register for bags.
Describe your last flight or hotel stay. Say how you checked in (online or at the desk) and how long it took.
Before my flight to Istanbul, I checked in online, and the whole thing took less than five minutes.
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