to
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English to (“to”), from Old English tō (“to”), from Proto-Germanic *tō, *ta (“to”), from Proto-Indo-European *de, *do (“to”). Cognate with Low German to (“to”), Dutch toe (“to”), German zu (“to”), West Frisian ta (“to”).
[edit] Pronunciation
Stressed
Unstressed
[edit] Particle
to
- A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive.
- I want to leave.
- He asked me what to do.
- I don’t know how to say it.
- I have places to go and people to see.
- 1711, Alexander Pope:
- To err is human, to forgive divine.
- circa 1600, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act 3, Scene 1:
- To be, or not to be: that is the question: / […]
- 2010 July, Associated Press, headline [1]:
- Odds are, BP to get new CEO this year
- 2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle”, BBC Sport:
- To that end, the home supporters were in good voice to begin with, but it was Newcastle who started the game in the ascendancy, with Barton putting a diving header over the top from Jose Enrique's cross.
- As above, with the verb implied.
- "Did you visit the museum?" "I wanted to, but it was closed."
- If he hasn't read it yet, he ought to.
[edit] Usage notes
- Traditional British usage adds a verb after to, that is, does not use the second sense above.
[edit] Derived terms
- going to / gonna
- got to / gotta
- have to / hafta
- ought to / oughta
- supposed to / supposta
- used to / usta
- want to / wanna
- fixing to / finna
[edit] Translations
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[edit] Preposition
to
- Indicating destination: In the direction of, and arriving at.
- We are walking to the shop.
- Used to indicate purpose.
- He devoted himself to education.
- They drank to his health.
- Used to indicate result of action.
- His face was beaten to a pulp.
- Used after an adjective to indicate its application.
- similar to ..., relevant to ..., pertinent to ..., I was nice to him, he was cruel to her, I am used to walking.
- (arithmetic) Used to indicate ratios.
- one to one = 1:1
- ten to one = 10:1.
- (arithmetic) Used to indicate that the preceding term is to be raised to the power of the following value; indicates exponentiation.
- Three squared or three to the second power is nine.
- Three to the power of two is nine.
- Three to the second is nine.
- Used to indicate the indirect object.
- I gave the book to him.
- (time) Preceding.
- ten to ten = 9:50; We're going to leave at ten to (the hour).
- In comparison with, compared with.
- 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, BBC Sport:
- In total, the Reds had 28 shots to their opponent's nine, and 15 corners to the Baggies' three.
- 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, BBC Sport:
- (Canada, UK, Newfoundland, West Midlands) at
- Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.
[edit] Translations
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[edit] See also
[edit] Adverb
to (not comparable)
- Common misspelling of too.
- Toward a closed, touching or engaging position.
- Please would you push the door to.
- (nautical) Into the wind.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Antonyms
[edit] Translations
[edit] See also
- For usage examples of this term, see the citations page.
[edit] References
- Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Anagrams
[edit] Asturian
[edit] Adjective
to
[edit] Czech
[edit] Pronunciation
-
audio (file)
[edit] Pronoun
to n.
[edit] Danish
[edit] Etymology 1
From Old Norse tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”).
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /toː/, [tˢoːˀ]
[edit] Numeral
to
- (cardinal) two
[edit] Etymology 2
From Old Norse þvá (“wash”), from Proto-Germanic *þwahanan.
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /toː/, [tˢoːˀ]
[edit] Verb
to (imperative to, infinitive at to, present tense tor, past tense toede, past participle har toet)
[edit] Ewe
[edit] Noun
to
[edit] Verb
to
[edit] Finnish
[edit] Etymology
Abbreviation of torstai ("Thursday").
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈto/
[edit] Abbreviation
to
- Thu (abbreviation of Thursday)
[edit] Ido
[edit] Pronoun
to
[edit] Japanese
[edit] Syllable
to
[edit] Particle
to (hiragana と)
[edit] Noun
to (hiragana と)
- 戸: Japanese-style door
- 都: metropolis
[edit] Suffix
to (hiragana と)
- person (clarification of this Japanese definition is being sought)
[edit] Lojban
[edit] Cmavo
to
- Marks the start of a parenthetical clause or phrase.
[edit] Usage notes
- The elidable terminator for a phrase begun with to is toi.
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Lower Sorbian
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: [tɔ]
[edit] Pronoun
to
[edit] Norwegian
[edit] Cardinal number
to
- (cardinal) two
[edit] Old English
[edit] Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *tō, *ta (“to”), from Proto-Indo-European *de, *do (“to”). Cognate with Old Saxon tō (“to”), Old High German zuo (“to”).
[edit] Preposition
tō
[edit] Adverb
tō
[edit] Descendants
[edit] Old Saxon
[edit] Etymology
West Germanic *to, whence also Old English tō and Old High German zuo
[edit] Preposition
tō
- to
[edit] Polish
[edit] Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *to, from Proto-Indo-European *tód
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Pronoun
to n.
- (demonstrative) this (nearby, neuter)
[edit] Declension
[edit] See also
[edit] Slovene
[edit] Pronoun
to n.
- (demonstrative) this
[edit] Vietnamese
[edit] Adjective
to
[edit] Derived terms
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms with homophones
- English particles
- English prepositions
- en:Arithmetic
- Canadian English
- British English
- Newfoundland English
- West Midlands English
- English adverbs
- English misspellings
- en:Nautical
- 100 English basic words
- English two-letter words
- Asturian adjectives
- Czech pronouns
- Danish terms derived from Old Norse
- Danish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Danish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Danish numerals
- Danish cardinal numbers
- Danish verbs
- Danish dated terms
- Ewe nouns
- Ewe verbs
- ee:Anatomy
- ee:Family
- ee:Mammals
- Finnish abbreviations
- Ido pronouns
- Japanese syllables in Latin script
- Japanese romaji
- Japanese particles
- Japanese nouns
- Lojban cmavo
- Lojban cmavo of selma'o TO
- Lojban punctuation marks
- Lower Sorbian pronouns
- Norwegian cardinal numbers
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Old English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old English prepositions
- ang:Grammar
- Old English adverbs
- Old Saxon terms derived from West Germanic languages
- Old Saxon prepositions
- Polish terms derived from Proto-Slavic
- Polish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Polish pronouns
- Slovene pronouns
- Vietnamese adjectives