two, too, to

The words two, too and to are homophones: they sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

On this page

• When to use “two”
• When to use “too”
• When to use “to”
• Additional information

When to use “two”

The word two is a number.

• The number two comes after the number one.
• Canada has two official languages: English and French.
• Two members of the board voted against the proposal.

When to use “too”

The word too is an adverb that has several meanings.

Too can mean “also.” When used in this sense, too is often placed at the end of the sentence:

• I enjoy outdoor sports like cycling, running and hiking, but I enjoy indoor activities, too.

Too can mean “to an unnecessary, excessive or undesirable degree”:

• If you go swimming, please don’t go in too deep.
• This piece of cake is too big for me; let’s share it.
• Jerry was still too sick to leave the hospital in January.

Too can mean “extremely”:

• Candace bought me a lovely gift; she’s too kind.

Too is commonly used with the adverb not to mean “not very”:

• My mother was not too pleased with my grade.

Too is commonly used in the idiom too bad to express regret or sorrow:

• It’s too bad Javier won’t be joining us tonight.

When to use “to”

The word to is a preposition. A preposition is a word that expresses a relationship between a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun and another word or phrase in a sentence. The word to has many definitions and uses. Use to for all meanings and uses not covered by two and too.

• Gillian travelled from Ottawa to Moncton by train.
• Sylvie needs to improve her comprehension skills before the test.
• Sanjay’s answer to the last interview question was impressive.

Additional information

• Homonyms, homophones, homographs

Quiz

• Homonyms: Two, too, to