“To”, “Too” or “Two”- Which to use when?

To vs Too vs Two

To is a small but versatile preposition making it one of the most widely used English words.

Too is an adverb that has a meaning similar to ‘additionally’, ‘also’, ‘as well’, or ‘besides’.

Two has a straight forward and singular meaning i.e. the number 2!

Have you ever come across identical twins? They look alike, are of the same age, and in most cases, have similar sounding names. Most people have a tough time recognizing who is who! With triplets, this confusion gets even more complicated.

Doesn’t matter if it is twins or triplets, there is only one way of identifying each individual. It is by knowing them better!

That’s what we will do through today’s article. Know more about the confusing triplets of the English language – to, too and two! All three of them sound the same. Their spellings are slightly similar. However, they mean very different things.

To

To is a small but versatile preposition making it one of the most widely used English words. It is used to indicate motion or direction towards a person, time, object, or place. In this sense, it means the opposite of from.

Please convey my message to John.

Today I will be working from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm.

Sometimes to is also used for showing the indicative form of a verb.

I like to wake up early.

Too

Too is an adverb that has a meaning similar to ‘additionally’, ‘also’, ‘as well’, or ‘besides’.

Let’s visit the museum, too.

If you buy an ice-cream, get me one too.

In some sentences, too is also used to express excessiveness as an alternative to ‘very’ or ‘so’.

There is too much noise in the class.

Trinka is too quick.

Two

Unlike to and too, two has a straight forward and singular meaning i.e. the number 2!

I have got two publications so far.

How to remember the difference?

Among to, too and two, two is the easiest to distinguish. It only means the number two. For clearing the confusion around the other two words, there is a trick!

Look at the Os. When you want to tell that something is additional, use too, which has an additional O. When you are not talking something more, rather telling that there is a motion towards something, simply use to!

So go ahead and use this new learning to write with more confidence and less errors!

If similar sounding words give you a hard time while writing, don’t forget to read our article on What is the Difference Between Although and Though? where we have shown how confusing words like although and though could be mastered after all!