To, Too, Two

What’s the difference between to, too, and two? It’s not too difficult to use them, once you take the time to learn what they mean – and do some practicing, too.

To

To has two functions. First, as a preposition, in which case it always precedes a noun.

I’m going to the store

He went to Italy

This belongs to David

Secondly, to indicates an infinitive when it precedes a verb.

I need to study

We want to help

He’s going to eat

Too

Too also has two uses. First, as a synonym for "also":

Can I go too?

He went to France too

I think that’s Paul’s book too

Secondly, too means excessively when it precedes an adjective or adverb.

I’m too tired

He’s walking too quickly

I ate too much

Two

Two is a number.

One, two, three…

I have two cars

She ate two pieces of pie

The Bottom Line

The confusion between to, too, and two occurs because the three words are pronounced identically. If you’re able to replace the word with "also" or "excessively/too much," use too. If the word is a number, use two. Otherwise, you’ll want to use to.

6 Responses

  1. Hal 28 February 2014 / 19:34

    How would you write:
    There are three twos or( toos) or (tos) in the English language.
    I have an idea on how to do this but I am interested in your answer first.
    Thanks,
    Hal Clark

  2. lkl 1 March 2014 / 06:17

    Twos / toos / tos are the correct forms of the plural, but you can’t really say any of them since there’s only one of each. Saying “there are three twos” is untrue: there’s only one “two.” Instead, you should say something like “There are three words pronounced like ‘two’ in English.”

  3. lesli 26 May 2014 / 00:29

    if i ask you how many twos are in the english language how would you reply to this question?

  4. lkl 26 May 2014 / 06:09

    In writing, I would say “one,” because there is only one “two.” But if you asked me orally, I would say “three,” because there are three different words pronounced that way: to, too, and two.

  5. Dawn 21 July 2014 / 01:02

    You need to write all three in the sentence because it is not just a sentence but also an explanatory sentence.

  6. Cassie 4 March 2015 / 15:23

    There are three tüz in the English language.

Comments are closed.