What’s the difference between to and too? On the one hand, it’s only an ‘o’. On the other hand, these are some of the most commonly confused words in English and a small slip will bring grammar nerds scrabbling to point out your error with to vs too.
The simple answer is that ‘too’ is an adverb and ‘to’ is a preposition. But if you want to understand what that means in practice, keep reading. We have a more detailed explanation with lots of example sentences to make things clearer when you’re wondering whether to use too or to.
Understanding to vs too
To explore the difference between to and too, let’s begin with too, which is an adverb. There are two ways in which this word is commonly used in English.
Too is an adverb with different meanings
Too can mean excessively
If you’re trying to convey the idea that something is more than it should be, use too followed by an adjective:
- This house is too small for us.
- I’m getting too fat.
- The test was too difficult for her.
- It’s a problem that we see all too often.
- You have spent too long staring at a screen today.
It’s unusual to see too before an adjective with a positive meaning because it usually conveys something negative. Rather than saying “This party is too amazing!” you’d say “This party is so amazing!”.
You might say “She looks too happy to be at a funeral” though, because in this situation it’s inappropriate to be happy.
However, as an exception to this rule, sometimes ‘too’ is used to mean ‘extremely’. This is heard more in American English than British English:
- What lovely flowers, you’re too kind!
- He is too funny! I didn’t stop laughing all night.
This meaning doesn’t fit in every context, and as a non-native speaker it may be difficult to judge when it’s okay to use ‘too’ to mean ‘extremely’. Therefore, it may be safer to use a different word for ‘very’.
Too much and too many
We use too much and too many to talk about an excessive amount or number of something:
- You’re fat because you eat too much!
- Do you think I talked too much during the meeting?
- My aunt has too many cats.
- Too many people got onto the bus so the driver wouldn’t depart.
Are you unsure whether to use ‘too much’ or ‘too many’? This article about countable and uncountable nouns might help.
Too can mean in addition, as well or also
If you’re talking about adding something or you’re adding an extra point to something already mentioned, use too:
- I love ice cream and my dog likes it too!
- We’re going to the cinema, do you want to come too?
- He, too, is a talented guitarist.
These addition words and phrases will help you vary your vocabulary if you find yourself using ‘too’ too often!
It’s important to know that ‘too’ is generally not used in negative clauses to show addition. You shouldn’t say “Jack is not tired and Sean is not tired too.” Instead, use ‘either’, ‘nor’ or ‘neither’. Any of the following are correct, although the first example sounds unnatural because of the unnecessary repetition:
- Jack is not tired and Sean is not tired either.
- Jack is not tired and nor is Sean.
- Jack is not tired and neither is Sean.
- Neither Jack nor Sean is tired.
How can you remember to use too vs to in these scenarios? An easy trick is to think about the EXtra ‘o’ in too and remember that it’s talking about something EXtra or EXcessive.
These are the two most common uses for ‘too’ in English. So now, let’s look at when to use ‘to’ instead.
To is a preposition
To is used before a base verb to create an infinitive
- I’m going to have pizza for dinner tonight.
- Does anyone know how to fix the printer?
- She started to laugh when she saw his new haircut.
To can indicate a destination
- I think I’ll walk to work today.
- Are you going to the gym later?
- We’re planning a holiday to Spain this year.
- It’s late; I’m going to bed.
Note: we don’t use to before here, there or home:
- How did you get here?
- We will drive there together.
- He wants to go home now.
To is used in front of some indirect objects
When the indirect object comes after the direct object of a verb, to is sometimes used:
- Please give this card to your mother.
- Did you attach the report to the email?
- Could you ask Katie to buy some milk on the way home?
Sometimes to is used to mean until when talking about time
- The florist is open from 8 to 6 every day.
- It usually rains from December to February here.
- It’s not long to your birthday now!
You will also see to used in many phrasal verbs.
Pronunciation of to vs too
After all of this confusion, there’s some good news: The words to and too sound exactly the same when you say them, so you don’t need to worry about your pronunciation.
Words that sound the same but have different spellings (and meanings) are known as homophones. Another homophone of to and too is two (the number). Again, this word is said the same but has a different meaning.
When you hear someone speaking, you will need to judge from the context whether they said ‘to’, ‘too’ or ‘two’.
To sum up
Has this helped you understand when to use to or too? We hope so, but if you have any other questions or an example you’re unsure about, you are welcome to leave a comment below.
And now that you have too vs too sorted out, why not read about some other easily confused words?
