# check sth in

CEFR A2 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/check-sth-in
Updated: 2026-04-24

## Definition

To register your arrival at a hotel or airport. You also use this phrase when you give your luggage to an airline before a flight.

For teachers: To register one's arrival at a hotel or airport (intransitive), or to entrust one's luggage to an airline for transport (transitive and separable).

## Examples

- We need to check in our bags.
- Please have your passport ready when you check in your luggage at the counter.
- The airline's policy requires passengers to check in any bag weighing over 10 kilograms, which can be done online or at the airport.

## Pitfalls

- Not "I checked in it at the desk." but "I checked it in at the desk." — When the object of a separable phrasal verb is a pronoun (like 'it'), it must go between the verb and the particle.

## Usage notes

- Often used intransitively for people ('we checked in') and transitively for luggage ('check in your bags').
- Teaching tip: Contrast with 'check out' (to leave a hotel) and 'check on' (to see if someone is okay); the opposite action for luggage is 'claim' or 'collect'.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.