Grammar 101: Two, Too and To

Grammar 101: Two, Too and To

Previously:

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/phil1944/blog/feeling-youre-...

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/phil1944/blog/grammar-101-it...

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/phil1944/blog/grammar-101-yo...

https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/phil1944/blog/grammar-101-th...

A Few Simple Rules Are All You Need

There's no doubt that, in its entirety, English grammar is complex, especially for someone learning English as a second language.

But...

If you're a native English speaker and just want to avoid common grammatical errors in your writing (such as blog posts on your website) there are only a handful of rules that you need to memorize.

So this series of posts is for those who'd like to ditch the Grammarly crutch and just know what's right and what's not.

Here's the fourth one:

Two, Too and To

Let's dispense with "two" first. It's easy, it only has one meaning and most people are aware of it. "Two" is how you write the number "2". So, for example, "only two people have qualified for entry".

Simple. Just remember it.

The others are more difficult and a lot of people get them wrong.

Too

Let's start with "too". It's used less frequently than "to" and is used in a couple of specific ways:

1. As an alternative to "also" or "as well". For example, "I'm hungry... and thirsty too" is correct, because you could substitute: "I'm hungry, and thirsty as well".

2. As an emphasis, to indicate that something is very (or excessively) so. Some examples are "I can't go to work. I'm too sick", "It's all too much" and "You are too kind".

Here's an additional test. You can always emphasize "too" and it will still make sense, which is not the case for "to". "I'm hungry, and thirsty TOO", "You are TOO kind".

To

If you get "too" right, then you can use "to" for all other cases,

Its most common usages are:

1. To express direction, as in "We are going to the restaurant" or "Please go to the supermarket for me" or a little more subtly "Are you talking to me?"

2. As part of a verb. "To be or not to be" or "I want to go home".

Too and To

And finally, here's an example of both in the one sentence:

"Judy is coming to the party too". A useful model to remember.

Conclusion

It's not too (lol) difficult. Just remember "two" is "2", you can substitute "also" for "too" and use "to" for everything else.

I hope this has helped.