Change to or change into is better

Open Forum in English
1

Reported speech: statements.
The tense of the introducing verb (ask, say, tell) changes when the sentence is reported: simple present → simple past; present continuous → past continuous…

I saw these written words in a textbook and would like to use spoken words to say this part: simple present → simple past

Should I say,
“change the simple present to the simple past”
or
“change the simple present into the simple past”?

Thank you!!!

2

I don’t think most native speakers would be concerned with either choice. I think probably in this context I’d prefer the first over the second, but not sure if that means it’s the best choice or not =)

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3

Some ways are more common / natural in certain situations. “I´m going to change into something else” - putting on other clothes. “We changed the class to include this”. “We changed from A to B”. “The name Pierre changed to Per”. These seem more natural than the other form, but I´m no exact expert and I don´t think it´s a big deal.

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4

The answer in this url sounds like a good explanation of the difference. Based on this I’d say the “change to” for this situation above is probably best.

Essentially “change into” implies some sort of transformation…it’s the same “entity” but it’s transforming (caterpillar changes into a butterfly). Where as change to implies a replacement.

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