Two, Too, or To? Too Tough to Remember?

I know my daughter will think this is all about her. And she’ll be right. I recently corrected her Facebook status because she used to when she should have used too. No big deal, really, but as I’ve written before, her dad gets held to pretty high standards on stuff like that. To her credit, she graciously corrected the status.

So, let’s address this common point of confusion. The core problem here is that these words are known as homophones–words that sound alike. But they are also heterographs, meaning they are spelled differently and have different meanings. So, we hear and pronounce them the same, but they have distinct spellings, and we have trouble keeping the spellings straight.

Actually, few of us have trouble with the word that names the number: two. So, let’s just get to the point of confusion: Do we use the one “o” to or the two “o” too?

To is used two different ways. It can be a preposition showing relationship as in:

I drove my grandma to Bingo.

In his will my uncle left his golf ball collection to me.

But to is also commonly followed by a verb to create what we call an infinitive:

I would like to examine your boots.

Samantha is reluctant to taste fried okra.

There’s another increasingly less common use of to as an adverb though. It’s used this way in expressions like “I pushed the door to (into a closed position),” “The patient came to (into a conscious state).” Those are unusual expression though, so let’s ignore them.

Too, on the other hand, is always used as an adverb. It can mean excessively, also, or beyond what is desirable:

His harmonica playing is too amazing for words.

I want to play the harmonica too.

Here are two simple ways to remember when you need the two “o” too. Too, in all its definitions means something like more or in addition. So, remember that when the word indicates more, you need more o’s.

Another way to remember is to replace the word mentally with very and also. If either one makes some kind of sense in the sentence, that means you are using it as an adverb, and you should use too, not to.

If the sentence is:  My oatmeal is ____ cold.  You could insert very and it makes sense. That means you need too.

If the sentence is: You can have a dish of oatmeal _____. You could insert also and it makes sense. You need too.

If  the sentence is: I have never been ___ Cleveland in the spring. You cannot insert either very or also. That means you can stick with to.

Personally, I like the first trick better. If something is too good, the too needs more o’s. That works for me. What works for you?

And I’d love to hear any opinions on Facebook grammar. It’s something I wonder about all the time. Should I bother correcting it at all? Does it worry you?