Hello and welcome to English with Languissimo®, the podcast in English which will help you reach your goals so that you can lead a better life and career.
My name is Vanessa. I’m the founder and CEO of Languissimo®.
Today, I will cover the difference between “to”, “too” and “two”.
- “To” is used to write the infinitive: “to be”, “to have”, “to do”. The infinitive (“to” + verb) is used after some common verbs: “to want”, “to learn” “to like” “to decide”, “to plan”, “to choose”. For example: “I want to learn to speak fluently” (je veux apprendre à parler couramment). “To want” and “to learn” are two verbs which are followed by infinitives.
- “To” means “à”, “à l’”, “à la”, “au” in the singular and “aux” in the plural. It is a preposition, and it is used after a verb to indicate a direction. The most common verb is “to go”. For example, I’m going to Edmonton tonight (je vais à Edmonton ce soir).
“To” (+ infinitive or not) is used after many verbs. The easiest thing to do is to write down the ones that you use a lot with their translation in French.
- “To” is also the short version of “in order to” and it means “pour” or “afin de/que/qu’”. It is followed by a verb in the infinitive. For example, “I’m doing this to help you” (Je fais ça pour/afin de vous aider). It is the same thing as “I’m doing this in order to help you”. Well, in Northern America, “to” has replaced “in order to” in spoken English.
“To” (as a synonym of “in order to”) is often used at the beginning of a sentence. For example, “to improve your English (or “in order to improve your English”), you need to practice” (pour améliorer votre anglais, vous devez pratiquer).
- “Too” means “aussi”. A common phrase is “me too” (moi aussi).
“Also” is a synonym. While “too” is written at the end of a sentence: “I like this too” (j’aime ça aussi), “also” is written between the subject and the verb: “I also like this” (j’aime ça aussi).
- “Two” means “deux”. 2 + 2 = 4 (“two plus two equals four”) (or 5 depending on where you look). A common phrase is “it takes two to tango” (les torts sont partagés).
A little piece of advice: all 3 have the same pronunciation so think of the context before you write.
Some Practice Questions
- What do you plan to do to improve your English?
- Do you talk to your friends on the phone or do you text them?
- Do you like milk chocolate too?
- In the phrase “it takes two to tango”, you can replace “to” by what?
Ta da! That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Subscribe to English with Languissimo®, practice, take care and talk to you soon! Big hugs 😊