# Will "too" become "to"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089 "2014-04-27T02:36:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/21 "2014-04-27T17:27:24Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > The only one I see so much that I think will become a real word is “alright.” It is supposed to be “all right” but as there are so many words like “always” “although” or “already” it makes sense that people make the mistake, and it also makes sense for it to be spelled that way really. So I figure one day it will be officially accepted as such. > > I think most other frequent errors or typos probably won’t be accepted as easily. I think we’ll also see the dropping of the now-silent gh become accepted as legitimate. Words like tonite, lite, thru, and donut will be seen as proper spellings. ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/22 "2014-04-27T17:31:27Z")
“There their they’re” bothers me a lot more than too, but both errors indicate a poor attention to detail. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/23 "2014-04-27T17:43:16Z")
“Loose” for “lose” is the one that bugs the hell out of me. No, you did not “loose” your keys. You did not “loose” a bet. Your team did not “loose” the game. Stop it, you loosers! ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/24 "2014-04-27T19:25:12Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > **guizot,** do you mean to and too aren’t similarly pronounced because they’re identically pronounced? Two, too, and to are homophones as far as I’ve ever heard. That’s because you’re not really listening to your own language.\* The vowel in _to_ is [reduced](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduced_vowels_in_English) in normal speech, so that the true pronunciation is /tə/. The only times it is pronounced the same as _too_ (/tu/) are 1), when people are self-consciously referring to the word itself, which is very rare; or 2), when its prepositional function is being called into contrast with another preposition (equally as rare). For example: A: _Did you say they were driving from the station?_ B: _No, I said they were driving TO the station._ So normally (99% of the time), _too_ and _to_ are NOT homophones. \*Assuming you’re a native English speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/25 "2014-04-27T19:30:05Z")
Know. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/26 "2014-04-27T19:35:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Know. Word. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/27 "2014-04-27T19:38:36Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > The only times it is pronounced the same as _too_ (/tu/). . . Actually, I should add two other (comparatively rare) contexts where _to_ is pronounced /tu/: 1. As a particle in a phrasal verb: _He got knocked out and didn’t **come to** for about 10 minutes._ And 2), as a constituent part of a compound noun resulting from such a phrasal: _Johnny’s the **go-to guy** for things like this._ ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/28 "2014-04-27T19:48:14Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > That’s because you’re not really listening to your own language.\* > > The vowel in _to_ is [reduced](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduced_vowels_in_English) in normal speech, so that the true pronunciation is /tə/. The only times it is pronounced the same as _too_ (/tu/) are 1), when people are self-consciously referring to the word itself, which is very rare; or 2), when its prepositional function is being called into contrast with another preposition (equally as rare). For example: > > A: _Did you say they were driving from the station?_ > B: _No, I said they were driving TO the station._ > > So normally (99% of the time), _too_ and _to_ are NOT homophones. Thank you. I was going to say the same thing, but you said it better and more knowledgeably. If you write “He was going too fast,” I would mentally hear/pronounce the “too” and the “fast” so that they have the same length and emphasis. If you write “He was going to fast,” I would mentally hear the “to” as being shorter and less emphasized as the other words (and I would assume he was going to stop eating for a while). ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/29 "2014-04-28T03:34:11Z")
I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “to” and “too” differently. Every single time they have sounded exactly the same. Et tu? ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/30 "2014-04-28T03:57:27Z")
Actually, I’d never thought about this, and would have assumed they were pronounced the same. However, reading **Thudlow** ’s examples, I think they’re correct. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/31 "2014-04-28T05:43:36Z")
> [@Stringbean](#): > > I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “to” and “too” differently. Every single time they have sounded exactly the same. Et tu? See posts 24, 27, and 28. I learned something new today (thanks, guizot!). However, it could be argued that this isn’t quite “different pronunciations” in one sense, because the schwa is not an independent phoneme in English. It’s just the way we manifest an unstressed vowel most of the time. So it’s not that we replace the “oo” in “to” with some other sound; rather, we rarely give the word stress, the way we give “too.” This isn’t exactly because it’s a differently pronounced word per se, but rather because it’s grammatical functions are usually _subservient_ ones (there is surely a more accurate technical term for this, but I think you know what I mean) – as a mere preposition in a phrase, or as the introductory word in an infinitive phrase; whereas “too” is used as an adverb which modifies an entire clause or sentence, often set off by its very own pair of commas. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s simply “lucky” that they’re pronounced differently (this is why it comes as a surprise to notice this). ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/32 "2014-04-28T12:24:13Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Their, their. \*\* Theiyr’re\*\* (Take that grammar police) While some of this has to do with txting and the usage of small keyboards or even number pads only that makes it sometimes difficult to input letters and space limitations of early txt messages, I have a additional theory about the internet grammar usage (such as 4 for for), it is small a act of rebellion by some against those who try to stop the language from evolving by holding on to traditional spellings and usages that no longer serve us and in some cases make things harder to learn. People like do not like to be held to nonsensical rules, but other people do not like change and want consistency. The internet gives the ability of the first group the forum to challenge the second, and also has proven that the ‘shorthand’ that is evolving is widely accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/33 "2014-04-28T12:28:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think we’ll also see the dropping of the now-silent gh become accepted as legitimate. Words like tonite, lite, thru, and donut will be seen as proper spellings. “Donut” is already the proper (or at least, more common) spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/34 "2014-04-28T15:55:16Z")
I’m pretty sure that “breath” is the same as “breathe” now. You see it all over the place. It’s annoying as hell. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/35 "2014-04-28T16:57:18Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > \*\* > Theiyr’re\*\* > > (Take that grammar police) > > While some of this has to do with txting and the usage of small keyboards or even number pads only that makes it sometimes difficult to input letters and space limitations of early txt messages, I have a additional theory about the internet grammar usage (such as 4 for for), it is small a act of rebellion by some against those who try to stop the language from evolving by holding on to traditional spellings and usages that no longer serve us and in some cases make things harder to learn. People like do not like to be held to nonsensical rules, but other people do not like change and want consistency. The internet gives the ability of the first group the forum to challenge the second, and also has proven that the ‘shorthand’ that is evolving is widely accepted. In the next few years textspeak will be out of fashion. Only “old” people who started out texting on flip phones will still use it. There is an entire generation of young people who will have grown up with high quality keyboards and spellcheck on their phones. ---
**Author:** ![scratch\_llll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@scratch\_llll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch_llll)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/36 "2014-04-29T04:14:34Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > In fact, _to_ and _too_ are not similarly pronounced in normal speech, so there would be even less reason to “change” the spelling of one of them. Are two. Besides, you missed my incorrect use of than and then as if they were interchangable. They are not. They mean entirely different things and it bugs the snot out of me when people act as if they don’t. It lowers my estimation of someones IQ by half when I see it. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089/37 "2014-04-29T12:05:21Z")
> [@scratch\_llll](#): > > Besides, you missed my incorrect use of than and then as if they were interchangable. I didn’t “miss” it at all; I just ignored it, because it was off topic. Every time one of these threads comes up, it inevitably degenerates into a general griping session about pet peeves, rather than a discussion of the specific point in the OP. To me, that’s the most annoying thing of all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-too-become-to/687089.md?page=1)