What Does Log In Mean?
Log in and log on mean the same thing: to start using a computer, a website, an app or an account. You often type a name and a password to do it.
Sam logged in to the school website.
You need a password to log on.
The two phrases are close twins. When you finish, you log out or log off.
🗣️ Natural Examples
I logged in to my game and saw a message from a friend.
Please log on and open the class page.
Mum logged me in because I forgot the password.
The library asks you to log in before you use the computer.
When you finish, remember to log out.
✂️ Can You Separate It?
Yes, when someone else does the logging. With a person as the object, the person goes in the middle.
With a noun or a name, both places are fine.
✅ Log in the new student.
✅ Log the new student in.
With a pronoun, it goes in the middle.
✅ Log me in.
✅ Log her on.
❌ Log in me.
When you log in yourself, there is no object: I logged in. You can add to and the place: I logged in to my account.
🛠️ How to Use It
- Past tense: logged in. Past participle: logged in. I am logged in.
- Add the place with to: log in to your account.
- Log in or log on? Dictionaries say either works. Log on is a little more common for starting a computer, and log in is a little more common for entering a website or an app.
- The opposite: log out and log off both mean to end the session.
- The noun: login (one word) means the process of identifying yourself, often with a username and a password. A login page.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
The verb is two words.
❌ Please login to your account.
✅ Please log in to your account.
The noun is one word.
❌ Type your log in and password.
✅ Type your login and password.
A pronoun belongs in the middle.
❌ Can you log in me?
✅ Can you log me in?
Ava: I can't log in.
Jack: Is your password the dog's name?
Ava: Yes.
Jack: Is the dog's name spelled right?
💡 The OddLingo Trick
Here is the odd part. The verb is two words (log in), and the noun is one word (login). A quick test: if you can put a or the in front of it, as in the login, it is the noun.
Both in and on work, so you will never be wrong. And remember: out or off to leave.
👯 Similar Expressions
- Sign Up: join something for the first time. Once you have signed up, you log in.
- Turn On and Turn Off: switch a machine on or off.
- Check In: arrive and register at a hotel or an airport.