What To do About Too Many Types of Tos, Like More Than Two?

There are three words pronounced “to” in the English language and they are frequently mixed up. They are: To, Too, and Two. Grammar check often won’t catch these errors because they are all words.

Here are the differences:

TO

Can be used as a preposition of movement (I’m going to the beer store)

Can be used as a preposition of direction (The train goes from Columbia Heights to Metro Center)

Can be used in conjunction with times (The bar is open from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.)

Can be used to mean ‘receive’ (I gave a beer to Bob)

Can be used as the first part of an infinitive (I want to spend the night with Bob)

TOO

Can be used before an adjective or an adverb for reinforcement to mean ‘very’ or ‘more than sufficient’ (Bob is way too hot for me)

Can be used as an adverb to mean ‘also’ or ‘in addition’ (After we had beer, Bob and I did vodka shots, too). 

TWO

Is only used as a number (It takes two to tango: me and Bob).