# Sentence That Can Be Spoken But Cannot Be Written In English?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 1, 2007, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115 "2007-07-01T10:19:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2007, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/1 "2007-07-01T10:19:36Z")
A sentence that cannot be written in English?
Three words in English: TO, TWO and TOO.
Write it in a sentence: “There are three _twos_ in the English language.” or write “There are three meanings of the word _to_ in English” or “There are three ways to spell _too_ in the English language.” or figure out a way to write it out.
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### Author:  [@BrattiAtti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrattiAtti)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2007, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/2 "2007-07-01T10:47:32Z")
There are three _theres_ in the English language. Their pronunciation is similar, if not the same. They’re easy to differentiate when used in any particular context.
😉
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2007, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/3 "2007-07-01T10:53:26Z")
Easy!
‘Two’ is a homophone of three words in the English language.
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### Author:  [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2007, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/4 "2007-07-01T11:18:01Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz]
Easy!
‘Two’ is a homophone of three words in the English language.
[/QUOTE]
Ate two, Brutus?
Will nobody think of the homophonephobics? :eek:
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### Author:  [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)
#### Post date: [July 1, 2007, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/5 "2007-07-01T12:18:51Z")
The word two is a homophone, meaning words that are pronounced alike but spelled differently, as too and to are examples.
There, got it in one sentence.
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/6 "2007-07-02T15:17:44Z")
\>‘Two’ is a homophone of three words in the English language.
Actually, it’s a homophone of just two words, “to” and “too”, and is not a homophone of itself, is it?
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/7 "2007-07-02T15:27:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> “There are three twos in the English language.”
There is only one “two” in the English language.
> [@](#):
>
> “There are three meanings of the word to in English”
According to the Dictionary, there are about 21 meanings for the word “to.”
> [@](#):
>
> “There are three ways to spell too in the English language.”
I can only think of one way to spell “too.”
Here’s the written sentence I think you’re looking for:
“There are three words that sound like /tū/ in the English language.”
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### Author:  [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/8 "2007-07-02T19:34:57Z")
Too, to, and two are homonyms.
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### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/9 "2007-07-02T19:46:33Z")
Three English words are pronounced ‘two’.
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### Author:  [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/10 "2007-07-02T20:10:44Z")
“There are three English words that sound like /tū/. Two of them are too and to. The third word is very common; in fact you have just encountered it. What is the third word?”
The answer is, of course, [three](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_251.html).
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 2, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/11 "2007-07-02T23:01:55Z")
Simple. Pronounce them as they were originally pronounced.
“To\*,” “two\*\*,” and “too\*” have become homophones over time.
- Prounounced something like “toe”
\*\* Pronounced the way it’s spelled, with the “w” pronounced and rhymes with “toe”
\*\*\* Prounounced the way we currently prounouce it (well, there is a difference due to the Great Vowel Shift, but close enough).
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2007, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sentence-that-can-be-spoken-but-cannot-be-written-in-english/410115/12 "2007-07-03T00:37:28Z")
This page of the dictionary contains the words “too” to “two.”