Grammar Nerd: Two, To, Too
By: Sydnee Bagovich
You know that you see this one often enough in daily and professional communication. I certainly do! What may seem simple to some is confusing to others. The Grammar Nerd is here to try to take away some of the confusion!
Go to your favorite on-line dictionary resource, and you will find pages of uses of these words! Not wanting to rewrite the dictionary, and choosing to provide a little education of the words, I opted to focus on the general, primary uses of these words.
As I am fond of doing, I have chosen the easiest first! Two is the number 2. Period. There is nothing else that you will use the word two to represent!
Next let’s talk about to. To is a preposition, a function or direction word…went to the bank, gave the card to her mother, from one friend to another…
To can also be added to a verb to make it infinitive, so hence: I want to go. You will have to do better. To be or not to be… In fact, in this very section, did you spot the infinitive to make?
And, finally, there is too. The first use of too means also. I bought that cd too. You can come too! I read that book too.
The next category of usage of too would be to explain to a degree; excessively or very. The soup was too salty. That was too advanced a course for me. He wasn’t too happy.
So, in summary:
Two is 2.
To is either a preposition: directional or functional: go to the store; take this to your manager.
Too means to a degree: too bad for you, too little too late, too much coffee.
I hope that you find this helpful. Send me an email at grammar.nerd@yahoo.com, if I can clarify further! I would love to hear your comments about this and other articles that I have written.
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Sydnee Bagovich provides professional proofreading services for your business: websites, brochures, presentations… You write it. She makes it right. You can reach her at grammar.nerd@yahoo.com.