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to [ stressed too, unstressed t, tə ] CORE MEANING: a preposition or adverb indicating the direction, destination, or position of somebody or something
  I met him on his way to school.
She climbed all the way to the top.
You'll see a supermarket to your left. |
| Definition: |
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1. preposition indicates direction: indicates the direction or destination of somebody or something
He was on his way to the party.
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2. preposition indicates position: indicates the position of somebody or something
To the right of the door is a bulletin board.
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3. preposition forms infinitive: used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive of that verb
I want to leave now.
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4. preposition indicates purpose: used with the base form of a verb to indicate the intention or purpose of an action
The news agency is used to distribute information.
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5. preposition indicates recipient: indicates the recipient of something
(
used with a noun phrase to form the indirect object
)
Give it to me.
mail sent to another user on the same computer
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6. preposition indicates direction of feeling or action: indicates who or what a particular feeling or action is directed toward
I was very grateful to her for everything she did for me.
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7. preposition indicates attachment: indicates that two things are joined together
Each triangle consists of three square faces joined to one another along two edges.
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8. preposition until: indicates that something goes on until a point in time or until it reaches a fixed amount
He closes the store on Mondays and opens from Tuesday to Saturday.
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9. preposition indicates range: indicates a range of things or topics
Medical studies have explored everything from pollution to pesticides to genetics to parental occupations to electromagnetic fields.
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10. preposition indicates result of change: indicates what somebody or something is changing into or becoming
Their excitement soon turned to gloom when they saw what the climb entailed.
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11. preposition indicates simultaneity: indicates that two things are happening at the same time, especially that a particular sound or music accompanies another action
I woke up to the sound of the telephone ringing.
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12. preposition indicates equality: indicates equality, e.g. of two weights, amounts, or measurements
There are 12 inches to the foot.
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13. preposition as compared with: indicates comparison between two things such as scores in a game
The score was 5 to 3 in favor of our team.
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14. preposition before hour: indicates the number of minutes before the hour
It was five to seven before they arrived home.
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15. preposition
(
regional
)
Same as at1
He's over to the doctor's.
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16. adverb shut or almost shut: indicates that a door is shut, or covering the opening but not completely or firmly shut
He pulled the door to after him.
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17. adverb conscious again: into a state of lucidity and consciousness
came to in the recovery room
brought the patient to
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18. adverb nautical into wind: into the direction from which the wind is blowing
turned the yacht to
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| [ Old English tō. < Germanic] |
| Spelling Note |
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to, too, or two?
Do not confuse the spelling of to, too, and two, which sound similar. To has a wide variety of uses, especially as a preposition indicating, among other things, direction or destination (as in flying to New York), position (as in standing to the right), a recipient (as in give it to me), and range (as in from A to B); it also indicates the infinitive of a verb (as in to go). Too means "in addition" or "more than is desirable": Are you leaving too?It's too cold to go swimming. Two is the number 2, as in two boys and four girls.
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