Fit in means to be accepted and feel you belong: in a team, a class, a new country. The second meaning is to find time: fit someone in means to squeeze someone into a busy schedule.
Want to use fit in in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
fit in (with + people/group); fit in at + work/school; fit + person/it + in (= find time)
- It took me a few months to fit in at my new job.
- He tried hard to fit in with his flatmates, but they had very different habits.
- I'm busy all week, but I can fit you in on Friday morning.
What changed
First versionAt first I didn't fit with the other students.
RevisionAt first I didn't fit in with the other students.
Fit without in means to be the right size or to match: The jacket fits. This fits with our plans. For a person in a group you need fit in, and before people, with: fit in with the other students. Without in, the sentence sounds as if it's about the size or compatibility of things.
In the second meaning, the person or task goes between fit and in: The dentist can fit you in tomorrow. Receptionists, doctors and busy colleagues say this: there's no free time, but they'll squeeze you in.
Your turn
The hairdresser is fully booked today, but she said she could ___ at six.
Show the answer
fit me in — Here fit in means “find time”, and the pronoun me goes between fit and in. Fit in me is a word order mistake; a native speaker wouldn't say it.
Describe your first weeks in a new place: a job, a school or a new city. Say how long it took to feel you belonged and what helped.
It took me about two months to fit in at my new university, and joining the volleyball team helped a lot.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.