To Too or Not To Too? That is the Question

To too or not to too? that is the question

I’d like to start this blog post by pointing out that I’m not a snob when it comes to words but I noticed last week that a lot of people were using “to” when they meant “too” and vice versa.

This seemed to crop up many times not just on Twitter but on business forums and blog posts too (not to).

Of course I accept that there might be more important things going on in the world but as a copywriter I felt I should comment on this common confusion.

I’ve given some examples below of how “to” and “too” should be used and how you use them can completely change the meaning of a sentence.

Correct: “If you’re going to the shops I’d like to come too.”

Incorrect: “I am going too look at a new car. I hope my wife will come to.”

Put simply “too” means “also” or “excessive” *

and “to” refers to a place, direction or position or can be used before a verb in a sentence such as “I’m going to bite this apple”

*Source: About.com

Now we’ll look at an example where the use of “to” and “too” can completely alter a sentence.

“If you’re going too speak loudly” – in this case “too” means also

“If you’re going to speak loudly…” – by using “to” instead of “too” this sentence now has a totally different meaning and “to” is used before the verb “speak”

With more and more people using txt speak and abbreviations on sites like Twitter there is often a lack of punctuation which can add further to the confusion (like in the first example above).

In my next post I’ll take a look at the use of “there”, “their” and “they’re”.