Run into means to meet someone by chance, or to start having difficulties. With people, it is an unexpected meeting with someone you know: in the street, in a shop, at the airport. In the second meaning, “run into” is usually followed by “problems”, “difficulties” or “trouble”.
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run into + person (by chance); run into + problems/difficulties/trouble
- I ran into my old English teacher at the airport last summer.
- The project ran into problems when two developers left the team.
- Many students run into trouble with articles when they start writing essays.
What changed
First versionWe ran into with some difficulties when we moved the website to a new server.
RevisionWe ran into some difficulties when we moved the website to a new server.
After “run into”, you name the problem straight away: “ran into some difficulties”. The phrase already has the preposition “into”, so a second one, “with”, is not needed.
“Meet” says nothing about chance: it is used for planned meetings and for meeting someone for the first time. “Run into” stresses that the meeting was not planned: I ran into Tom at the station. In conversation, people often say “bump into” for the same thing: I bumped into Tom at the station.
Your turn
I wasn't expecting to see anyone I knew, but I ___ my old classmate at the station.
Show the answer
ran into — The first part of the sentence shows that the meeting happened by chance, so “ran into” is right. “Met with” usually describes a meeting arranged in advance, often for business.
Write about a difficulty you ran into at work or in your studies. Name the problem and explain how you solved it.
In my first week at the new job, I ran into problems with the booking system, so I asked a colleague to show me how it works.
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