Too vs To – Learn the difference

“Too” is an adverb. It can be used to replace words such as “excessively”, “additionally”, “as well” or “also”. “To”, on the other hand, is a versatile preposition that can be used in various situations and contexts. It’s used to indicate a direction, like “toward” and “until”. Let’s learn the difference between too vs to.   

Because they are pronounced the same but have different meanings, we call these words homophones. These words are often confused – even by native English speakers. So, how do we tell the difference between them? In this IELTS Grammar 101, we’ll give you some tips on telling them apart. 

• Difference between too and to 

• Synonyms of too and to 

• Use too and to in a sentence

Too 

Is an adverb: A word that describes, gives more information about a verb, adjective, adverb or phrase. 

To 

Is a preposition: A word usually preceding a noun or pronoun, which expresses relations to another word or element. 

Too

• To a higher degree, or more than needed. 

• In addition, or also. 

To 

• Expressing motion, direction or moving towards (a place, person, or thing)

Too 

Synonyms include: excessively, overly, also, as well, in addition, additionally, furthermore, exceptionally. 

To

Synonyms include: toward, towards, into, for, until, with.

Too

• I have an older sister too. 

• He was the first to arrive – and he woke up late too! 

• She wasn’t too excited about her upcoming birthday. 

• These shoes are too small – I’ll need to return them. 

• I’m not too sure how to answer this exam question. 

• I’ll bring a roast chicken, and some dessert, too. 

To 

• I’ll have to investigate it. 

• I need to go to work today. 

• “Will you be going shopping today” “I’m hoping to (go).” 

• She informed me to fill in the application. 

• He’s not confident enough to go up on the stage. 

• Can you tell me where to go? 

• To be honest, I don’t like that dress. 

• He travelled to Europe last year. 

• I gave it to my brother. 

• It’s twenty to twelve.

In written English, it is important to know the correct spelling of a word you want to use. You don’t want to write “weak” when you mean “week” even though they sound the same. In spoken English, spelling is less important, but pronunciation is. Think about the word “lead” which can be pronounced as “led” or “leed.” Because these words cause a lot of confusion, it’s well worth spending a few minutes to understand the difference: homophones vs homographs vs homonyms.

People often use elude when they mean allude, or write allude when they should really write elude. There are other commonly confused words too: Do you know the difference between “belief” or “believe”? That is the question in another article where we explain the difference between these two commonly misused words. Read it here.