To or too?
to is a particle meaning “A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive”; too is an adverb meaning “Likewise”. Use to as a particle and too as an adverb (to is also an adverb: “Toward a closed, touching, or engaging position”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) to is about 30 times as common as too.
What is the difference between to and too?
| to | too | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | particle, conjunction, preposition, adverb, noun, verb, prefix | adverb |
| Meaning | A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive As above, with the verb implied In order to | Likewise Also, in addition marks a statement as equally valid as the preceding one |
| Example | I want to leave | There has been a cutback in federal subsidies. Rates have been increasing too |
| Forms | ter, t', 2 | none |
| Pronunciation | /t̪oː/ [t̪oː] | /tuː/ [tʰu̟ː] /tu/ |
| In writing | 26,915 times per million words | 891 times per million words |
Sources: to and too in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of to and too
to
- 1
A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive
I want to leave
- 2
In order to
I went to the shops to buy some bread
- 3
In the direction of; towards
She looked to the heavens
- 4
UKUSToward a closed, touching, or engaging position
Please push the door to
- 5
IndiacolloquialA filler word common amongst urban Indians
I am to so bored right now
- 6
Initialism of time-out
- 7
to organize a tournament, to be a TO
TOing
- 8
Parting: forming verbs that involve cleaving, breaking, or sundering
tocrack
too
- 1
Likewise
- 2
Also, in addition marks a statement as equally valid as the preceding one
There has been a cutback in federal subsidies. Rates have been increasing too
- 3
To an excessive degree, more than enough indicates that the degree of a quality is more than what is needed or wanted
Near-synonyms: extremely, unnecessarily, all too
- 4
colloquialTo a high degree, very
She doesn't talk too much. I'm not too sure about this
- 5
colloquialUsed to contradict a negative assertion with present and simple past forms of be, do, and auxiliary verbs
You're not old enough yet. ― I am too!
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, to or too?
to appears 26,915 times per million words; too 891 times per million words.
to 26,915 times per million wordstoo 891 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search to vs too?
“to vs too” is searched about 18,100 times a month on Google and 1,010 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“too vs to”, “to or too”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.