Common spelling mistakes in English: to, two or too.
You may recognise that a minor spelling mistake in an e-mail can quickly influence your perception of the sender. In business e-mail communication, you obviously want to appear professional, but a small mistake can quickly slip into your message.
However, you can avoid spelling mistakes if you pay extra attention to them.
We have listed a number of common spelling mistakes. If you become aware of these mistakes, you will be one step closer to professionalising your business English.
To, two or too
The words to, two, and too sound completely alike, but have different meanings, so it is important to understand the differences:
- 'To' is a preposition and it is also used before the infinitive of a verb, for example 'to be'. Problematic for Dutch speakers is that this preposition is translated into different prepositions in Dutch. For instance, to is often 'naar' in Dutch, but can also be 'aan' ('give it to me') or 'tot', as in 'this shop is open from 9 to 5'.
However, most confusing for Dutch speakers is 'to' with its Dutch equivalent 'om te' (e.g. 'I came here today to tell you something'). This is because the adverb 'too' can also be 'te' in Dutch, but then in the sense of too much, too big, etc.
- Furthermore, too can mean 'also' or 'as well', for example 'nice to talk to you too' and two is the number 2.
Examples
- Incorrect: *Yesterday I ate to much.
Correct: Yesterday I ate too much. - Incorrect: *It’s great too see you again.
Correct: It’s great to see you again. - Incorrect: *I love you to.
Correct: I love you too.
More tips on English grammar and common mistakes in English? These articles might also interest you:
- English spelling: its or it's
- English spelling: full or ful
- English spelling: no, know or now
- English spelling: than or then
- English spelling: there, they're or their
- English spelling: live, lives or life
- English spelling: your or you're
- English spelling: were, wear, where or we're
- English spelling: with, which or witch
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