The Difference Between “Within” and “In”

A few diagrams should help.

A few diagrams should help

Photo by Allie Smith on Unsplash

As an editor, I’ve noticed an increase in the use and misuse of within. Like the misuse of I and me (I do this all the time!), I believe the misuse of within stems from overcompensation. We don’t know which word to use, so we over-rely on the formal for fear of being corrected or sounding ‘ignora…