To vs too (and two): the difference, examples and a quiz

To points toward something or starts a verb: walk to work, a letter to Sam, I want to write. Too means also (Can I come too?) or more than enough (too hot to touch). Two is the number 2. The memory trick: too has one o too many, which is just what it means, and two keeps the w of its relatives twin and twelve.

All three sound alike when you stress them, and all three are real words, so a spelling check won't flag any of them. A swap test covers the two common uses of too: if also, as well or excessively fits, write too; if the numeral 2 fits, write two; otherwise the word is usually to. A few fixed uses of too don't swap cleanly, such as the contradicting I did too, the polite You're too kind and not too bad; they're covered under too below.

To, too and two compared

How to use to

To is the workhorse of the three, with two main jobs.

As a preposition, it links a noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence:

• Direction or destination: the road to Kraków, send it to me
• The receiver: She explained the plan to the board.
• A time or a limit: open nine to five, ten minutes to midnight
• Comparison and ratio: similar to the first draft, twenty students to a class
• Fixed phrases: according to, next to, due to, in addition to, listen to, belong to

As the start of an infinitive, it comes right before the base form of a verb: I want to leave. It's hard to say. She went home to sleep.

One trap sits between the two jobs. In I'm looking forward to seeing you, to is a preposition, so the verb after it takes -ing, and looking forward to see you is wrong. The same goes for object to, be used to, admit to and when it comes to. If a noun could follow (looking forward to the weekend), the to is a preposition.

To also survives as an adverb in a few old phrases: to and fro, the wind blew the door to (shut), and she came to an hour later (woke up). It's still to, even at the end of a sentence.

In speech, to is usually unstressed and shrinks to a quick “tuh,” a reduced form Merriam-Webster lists as tə. Too and two never shrink. If a word in your sentence would naturally come out as “tuh,” it's to.

How to use too

Too is always an adverb, and it has two main meanings.

Too meaning also

In this sense, too usually comes at the end of a clause: I'd like a copy too. She speaks Portuguese, and Spanish too. Replies like Me too and You too are the same word. It can also follow the subject, which sounds more formal: I, too, had my doubts.

A comma before a final too is optional. I'd like a copy too and I'd like a copy, too are both correct; the comma adds a small beat of emphasis. When too comes right after the subject, use paired commas when you want to set it off for emphasis: She, too, had read the contract. Without them, too reads as part of the sentence's flow: She too had read the contract.

Too meaning excessively

Before an adjective or adverb, too means more than is good or more than enough: too hot, too late, too quickly. It pairs with much and many: too much noise, too many tabs open. An infinitive often follows, which puts to and too side by side: too tired to drive, too good to be true.

Too is not a stronger very. The coffee is very hot says it's hot; the coffee is too hot says it's hotter than you want. Polite formulas such as You're too kind keep that excessive sense as a compliment. In negatives, though, too can soften to “very”: the reviews weren't too bad means they were fairly good. And in speech, too can contradict: “You didn't call.” “I did too.” None of these swaps cleanly for also or excessively, and all of them are still too.

Too and to were once the same word. Old English used one form for the preposition and the adverb, and according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the spelling with the extra o, marking the stressed adverb, became regular in the 1500s. That's the logic of the memory trick: too is to with emphasis added.

How to use two

Two is the number 2 as a word: two weeks, the two of us, two-thirds of the vote, a two-way street. Idioms spell it out: two-faced, twofold, two cents' worth, it takes two. Whether you write two or 2 in running text is a house-style choice: Chicago spells out whole numbers through one hundred by default and offers an alternative rule that spells out only one through nine. Pick one and note it on your style sheet.

The silent w is old. Two comes from the Old English twa, and the same w is still sounded in two relatives: twin, from the same ancient root, and twelve, literally “two left” over ten. See the twin in two and you won't drop the w.

To, too and two in sentences

Thirty examples, grouped by word. Try the swap test on each.

To:

1. We drove to Tucson on Friday.
2. Send the contract to Priya, not to me.
3. The café is open seven to three on weekdays.
4. I need to finish chapter 9 tonight.
5. She went to the archive to check the date.
6. His second novel is similar to his first.
7. We're looking forward to meeting you.
8. It's ten to six, and the train leaves at six.
9. The odds are ten to one against us.
10. He fainted and came to a minute later.

Too:

11. Can I come too?
12. The coffee is too hot to drink.
13. You're too kind.
14. There are too many characters in the first chapter.
15. I, too, thought the ending was rushed.
16. It's too late to change the cover.
17. The reviews weren't too bad.
18. Her agent loved the draft, and her editor did too.
19. That's too much sugar for one cake.
20. “You didn't tell me.” “I did too.”

Two:

21. The two of us split the bill.
22. She wrote two drafts in two months.
23. Two-thirds of the class passed.
24. It takes two hours to drive to Flagstaff.

Together:

25. I want to go too.
26. The two dogs were too tired to walk to the car.
27. Two weeks is too long to wait for an answer.
28. It's too early to say whether two printings will be enough.
29. He has to work two jobs, and his wife does too.
30. We got there too late to see the first two acts.

Common to and too mistakes

These slips go in both directions, and every one of them passes a spelling check, so read each word for its meaning:

• I'm to tired to drive. → I'm too tired to drive.
• Me to! → Me too!
• That's to much. → That's too much.
• There are to many typos. → There are too many typos.
• Thanks, you to. → Thanks, you too.
• I want too go. → I want to go.
• We're looking forward too it. → We're looking forward to it.
• We need too people at the desk. → We need two people at the desk.
• It's never two late. → It's never too late.

Quiz: to, too or two?

Fill each gap, then check the answers below.

1. The flight was ____ hours late.
2. Is it ____ late ____ order dessert?
3. I'd love ____ join you.
4. She's coming, and her sister is ____.
5. We walked ____ the end of the pier.
6. That jacket is ____ big for you.
7. ____ of the four interviews are done.
8. “Have a good weekend.” “You ____!”
9. I'm used ____ working late.
10. There were ____ many people ____ count.
11. He bought ____ tickets, one for each of us.
12. The first draft was ____ long, and the second was long ____.

Check every to and too

Because all three are real words, a wrong one survives a spelling check and often a quick reread. Read each to, too and two for its job in the sentence, and give the short words the same attention as the long ones.

In a long document, you can ask the Strokes Assistant to list every sentence in a section where to, too or two might be the wrong word, then settle each one with the swap test.

The same check works for other pairs that sound alike, such as principal and principle and led and lead, and for prefixes that look alike, such as inter- and intra-. Try it on one line with three slips: