to

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "to"

Contents

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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 Scots tae, to (“to”), North Frisian to, tö, tu (“to”), Saterland Frisian tou (“to”), Low German to (“to”), Dutch toe (“to”), German zu (“to”), West Frisian ta (“to”). Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian ndaj (“towards”), Irish do (“to, for”), Breton da (“to, for”), Welsh i (“to, for”), Russian до (do, “to”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Stressed

Unstressed

  • (US) IPA(key): /tə/, /tʊ/
    • (after a vowel) IPA(key): [ɾə], [ɾʊ]

Particle[edit]

to

  1. 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.
    • c. 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”, in BBC Sport[2]:
      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.
  2. 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.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from to

Translations[edit]

Preposition[edit]

to

  1. Indicating destination: In the direction of, and arriving at.
    We are walking to the shop.
    • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, "London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
      Driven by a perceived political need to adopt a hard-line stance, Mr. Cameron’s coalition government has imposed myriad new restrictions, the aim of which is to reduce net migration to Britain to below 100,000.
  2. Used to indicate purpose.
    He devoted himself to education.
    They drank to his health.
  3. Used after certain adjectives to indicate a relationship.
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  4. Indicating a necessity.
    That is something to do.
  5. Used to indicate result of action.
    His face was beaten to a pulp.
  6. 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.
  7. (obsolete) As a.
    With God to friend (with God as a friend);   with The Devil to fiend (with the Devil as a foe);   lambs slaughtered to lake (lambs slaughtered as a sacrifice);   took her to wife (took her as a wife);   was sold to slave (was sold as a slave).
  8. (arithmetic) Used to indicate ratios; in informal use the ratios are not reduced to smallest terms.
    one to one = 1:1
    ten to one = 10:1.
    • 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport[3]:
      In total, the Reds had 28 shots to their opponent's nine, and 15 corners to the Baggies' three.
  9. (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.
  10. Used to indicate the indirect object.
    I gave the book to him.
  11. (time) Preceding.
    ten to ten = 9:50; We're going to leave at ten to (the hour).
  12. (Canada, Britain, Newfoundland, West Midlands) At.
    Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.

Usage notes[edit]

In the sense of "as a", it is a fossil word (Standard English only), found usually only in set phrases likeː "to take a woman to wife", "to have someone to friend", "to have something to birthright" etc.. In northern dialects, where it is rare, but still in common use, it is often used in combination with with as inː an idiot with a whore to wife; a shrew with an asshole to man; a loser with shit to job; a ghetto girl with a shit hole to home.

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from to

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Adverb[edit]

to (not comparable)

  1. Toward a closed, touching or engaging position.
    Please push the door to.
  2. (nautical) Into the wind.
  3. Misspelling of too.

Synonyms[edit]

  • (toward a closed, touching or engaging position): closed, shut

Antonyms[edit]

  • (toward a closed, touching or engaging position): open, ajar

Translations[edit]

Translations

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • 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

Statistics[edit]

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: the · of · and · #4: to · in · I · that

Anagrams[edit]

Asturian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin tuus.

Adjective[edit]

to

  1. your

Related terms[edit]

Babine-Witsuwit'en[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. water

References[edit]

  • Sharon Hargus, Wisuwit’en Grammar: Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology (2007), page 43

Babuza[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. water

References[edit]

  • Naoyoshi Ogawa, English-Favorlang vocabulary (2003)
  • S. Tsuchida, A Comparative Vocabulary of Austronesian Languages of Sinicized Ethnic Groups in Taiwan, Part I: Western Taiwan, Memoirs of the Faculty of Letters, No. 7 (1982)

Bambara[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. stiff porridge

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τόνος (tónos).

Noun[edit]

to m (plural tons)

  1. (music) tone (specific pitch)
  2. (linguistics) tone (pitch of a word)
  3. tone or shade of a color

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to n

  1. it, this, that

Dalmatian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin tuus. Compare Italian tuo, Romanian tău, Friulian to, French ton, Spanish tu.

Pronoun[edit]

to m (feminine toa)

  1. your; second-person masculine singular possessive pronoun

See also[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old Norse tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (“two”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /toː/, [tˢoːˀ]

Numeral[edit]

to

  1. (cardinal) two

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old Norse þvá (“wash”), from Proto-Germanic *þwahaną.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /toː/, [tˢoːˀ]

Verb[edit]

to (imperative to, infinitive at to, present tense tor, past tense toede, perfect tense har toet)

  1. (dated) wash

Esperanto[edit]

Noun[edit]

to (accusative singular to-on, plural to-oj, accusative plural to-ojn)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter T/t.

See also[edit]

Ewe[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. antelope
  2. (anatomy) ear
  3. father-in-law
  4. mortar
  5. mountain

Verb[edit]

to

  1. to crush
  2. to pound

Finnish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Abbreviation of torstai ("Thursday").

Pronunciation[edit]

Abbreviation[edit]

to

  1. Thu (abbreviation of Thursday)

Friulian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin tuus.

Pronoun[edit]

to (second-person singular possessive of masculine singular, of feminine singular tô, of masculine plural tiei, of feminine plural tôs)

  1. (used attributively) your, thy; of yours, of thine
    che al sedi santifiât il to nom, che al vegni il to ream, — "Your kingdom come, your will be done," (third and fourth sentences of Lord's Prayer)
  2. (used predicatively) yours, thine
  3. (used substantively) yours, thine; the thing belonging to you/ thee

See also[edit]

Gonja[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. language

References[edit]

  • Mary E. Kropp Dakubu, The Languages of Ghana

Hupa[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. a body of water, such as a lake or ocean

References[edit]

  • The Phonology of the Hupa Language, part 1: The Individual Sounds, volume 5, by Roland Burrage Dixon, Samuel Alfred Barrett, Washington Matthews, Bill Ray (using the older orthography "tō")
  • Victor Golla, Hupa Language Dictionary Second Edition (1996), page 105 (to)

Ido[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. (demonstrative) this (thing)

Itene[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. eye

References[edit]

  • Čestmír Loukotka, ‎Johannes Wilbert (editor), Classification of South American Indian Languages (1968, Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California), page(s) 162

Japanese[edit]

Romanization[edit]

to

  1. Rōmaji transcription of と
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ト

Kwalhioqua-Tlatskanai[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. water

Reference[edit]

  • Franz Boas, Pline Early Goddard, Vocabulary of an Athapascan dialect of the State of Washington, IJAL volume III, pages 39-45 (1924-1925)

Latvian[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. that; accusative singular masculine form of tas
  2. with that; instrumental singular masculine form of tas
  3. of that; genitive plural masculine form of tas
  4. that; accusative singular feminine form of tas
  5. with that; instrumental singular feminine form of tas
  6. of that; genitive plural feminine form of tas

Lithuanian[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. that; genitive singular masculine form of tas

Lojban[edit]

Cmavo[edit]

to

  1. Marks the start of a parenthetical clause or phrase.

Usage notes[edit]

  • The elidable terminator for a phrase begun with to is toi.

Related terms[edit]

Louisiana Creole French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French tu (“you”, singular informal).

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. you (singular), thou
    To té paʼlé gra. / To te pale gra.
    You spoke with an accent. (literally: "You had spoken thick.")

Lower Sorbian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to n

  1. this

Determiner[edit]

to

  1. nominative neuter singular of ten
  2. accusative neuter singular of ten

Mauritian Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French tu

Pronoun[edit]

to (objective twa, formal ou)

  1. you (second-person singular nominative personal pronoun)

See also[edit]

Mauritian Creole personal pronouns
singular plural
1st person mo
mwa (objective)		 nou
2nd person to (informal), ou (formal)
twa (objective)		 zot
3rd person li zot, bann-la

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål cardinal numbers
 <  1 2 3  > 
    Cardinal : to
    Ordinal : annen

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse tvá, accusative case of tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Pronunciation[edit]

Numeral[edit]

to

  1. (cardinal) two

Derived terms[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse tvá, accusative case of tveir, from Proto-Germanic *twai, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Numeral[edit]

to

  1. (cardinal) two

Derived terms[edit]

Novial[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. that (which is male)

Related terms[edit]

Old English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *tō, *ta (“to”), from Proto-Indo-European *de, *do (“to”). Cognate with Old Saxon tō (“to”), Old High German zuo (“to”), Old Irish do.

Preposition[edit]

tō

  1. to, into
  2. at
  3. (grammar) used to mark the infinitive (supine) of the verb
    tō drīfenne (“to drive”)

Adverb[edit]

tō

  1. besides
  2. in addition, also, too; moreover
  3. to an excessive degree; too

Descendants[edit]

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Proto-Germanic *tō, whence also Old English tō and Old High German zuo

Preposition[edit]

tō

  1. to

Polish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Slavic *to, from Proto-Indo-European *tód

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. (demonstrative) this (nearby, neuter)

Declension[edit]

declension of to
singular plural
nominative to te
genitive tego tych
dative temu tym (tem¹)
accusative to te
instrumental tym (tem¹) tymi (temi¹)
locative tym (tem¹) tych
vocative — —

¹ archaic

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • to in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Selepet[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. water

References[edit]

  • K. A. McElhanon, Selepet grammar (1972)
  • William A. Foley, The Papuan Languages of New Guinea (1986, ISBN 0521286212), page 257

Slovene[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Slavic *to.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. this (neuter)

Tututni[edit]

Noun[edit]

to

  1. (Euchre Creek) water

References[edit]

  • Victor Golla, Tututni (Oregon Athapaskan), International Journal of American Linguistics, volume 42:3 (July 1976), pages 217-227

Vietnamese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Vietic *tɔ.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

to

  1. big, large
  2. great, considerable

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Welsh[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Brythonic *toɣ (“covering”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

to m (plural toeau)

  1. roof

Derived terms[edit]

Mutation[edit]

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
to do nho tho
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Zazaki[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

to

  1. (informal) you (sg., acc.)
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