The difference between 'to' and 'too'.

Okay, I'm sorry for this!

I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I can't believe the low level of literacy on this forum! Frankly I'm amazed anyone over the age of ten can get these two words confused.

But, because I care, I'll tell you the rules (I've simplified them quite a lot!)...

Too
Means 'very' or 'more':
"I'm too tired; I've had too much to drink!"
Or means 'also':
"I'm tired too."

To
Goes before an action:
"I need to sleep. To dream. I want to."
Or describes a relationship or direction:
"You look drunk to me. Go to bed!"

If you learn this distinction between the two words, you'll look a lot smarter when you write! Or just memorise this silly little rhyme I just invented:

Short 'to' is to point out any
Directions relating to you.
Long 'too' has one 'o' too many
And can also mean 'also', too.

Yes, I realise this forum is rife with all manner of spelling mistakes, but confusing 'to' and 'too' is probably the most common, and for me, the most objectionable. I mean, the words don't even sound anything like each other!

 

Why not care about important things instead?

 

I'm two sorry too have been so stupide as two ever have made a mistakee as bad is that there that I made.

 

I know! The oneS that bother me the most are:

DEFINITELY
SEPARATE
THEIR, THEY'RE, THERE
It's ridiculous! I see defanitly, defnitly, seperate, and there, their and they're being butchered...it's sad. I had the same lousy public education as everyone else! You have no excuse! Stop embarassing yourselves!!

 

Bird Migration,

Define important! I think communication is paramount.

"I am to slim" means quite the opposite to "I am too slim". I personally consider these words very important to understand.

 

Yes, troo.

 

Mostly, though, to and too mistakes are typos, I mean everyone who types fast makes a lot of errors, it's a good way to recognise slow typers, they don't make many mistakes,

 

HaHaGirl,

I agree. Those annoy me, but I can kinda understand people struggling with 'there/they're/their' since all three words are pronounced the same. And I can kinda understand people spelling 'definitely' wrong since it contains two neutral vowels () which can be spelt in all manner of ways.

What confounds me about the confusion of 'to' and 'too' is that they're both really easy to spell, they're both pronounced completely differently, and they're such fundamental words to the language. There are few sentences (or conversations) that don't contain them! Plus I don't think I've ever seen anyone mis-spell them in real life, only on forums like this, which makes me wonder if everyone here is really kids pretending to be adults!

As we're talking about extremely petty things that annoy us, misuse of apostrophes really annoys me. Like the film 'Two Weeks Notice' with its missing apostrophe. Grrrr!

 

I think Timberwolf is probably right about it, b/c I have also noticed the mistake in my own posts and I definately know the difference between the two.

 

ah grammar...fantastic. While I think that fast typing can excuse most spelling typos, basic grammar is another issue all together. As a gross generalisation, people suck at grammar. An example: I have been doing some editing for our hall magazine - I love the fact that most of the (tertiary) students don't know the difference between its and it's, let alone they're, their and so on. ( It's so picky but don'tcha love being anal)?

 

Yeah, in every sense.

 

it's amazing how many people don't know basic grammar.

 

I'm proud to say that I, too, am annoyed by the lack of grammatical knowledge that has become commonplace since the domination of the internet.

 

i met her once but she died when i was fairly young and we lived a long way away and i think i only got to meet her once.

for me the difference between to and too is a mind going to fast to notice that i've failed to hit the "o" key a second time. just like the difference between are and our which i've been known on occasion to spell both "ar"!

i'm rather fond of my one size fits all use of of there for their and the're, but i guss i'm getting better about that inspite of myself.

i still think the cimri had the right idea about spelling things wierd to mess up the powers that were over running them.

i really think we place waaay to much stock in spelling when the 'rules' of it ar such a mishmash and arbitrary. where a spellind is critical to meaning that cannot be infered from context, then i'll try to be carefull with it, but otherwise i think it is an absurd concern. especialy when over concentration on it can interfere with creative and objective thought, which it appears to me, in an awful lot of people all to often does.

=^^=
.../\...

 

Yeah, is it to much trouble too take the time too think about what your writing?