Crash, crash into

The plane crashed into a mountain.
The man was drunk when he crashed the car.

Is it okay to say, " The man was drunk when he crashed INTO the car"?

“Crash the car” and “crash into the car” are different?

Thank you!!!

I apologize if this is a bad or overly complex explanation. But crash the car usually means he crashed his car. But if you said crash into the car it means he hit someone else’s car. crash just means they crashed. ex. The plane crashed. and adding into + something means they crashing into that thing. Crash the car means the car was crashed or wrecked/destroyed. into + object means he crashed into that object. and yes very normal and appropriate to say the man was drunk when he crashed into the car. meaning the man was drunk and hit someone’s car with his own.

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“Crash into” implies that he was NOT in the car already, and the action of crashing is what made him interact with the car.

So, “He crashed the car” = he was in a car driving it, and crashed the car into something not specified.

“He crashed INTO the car” = he was walking, or on a bike, or in another car driving, or in a plane, or in any mode of transportation, when his person or vehicle had a crashing interaction with “the car”.

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“He crashed the car.” ← This means he crashed. He was driving the car and hit something.
Other examples: “He crashed his bicycle.” “The plane crashed.”
This does not tell you what he hit. It tells you one part of the accident.

“Into” tells you what was hit. When a car crashes, it hits something.
Ex.
The car crashed into a wall.
The car crashed into a pole.
He crashed his bicycle into a fence.
The plane crashed into a building.

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It’s crystal clear. Thanks a lot!!!

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I’m glad it helped!

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