The Magazine For All Free People

To, Too, and Two!

To, Too, or Two?

Since they are all pronounced the same sometimes it can be difficult to determine which one to use. I think "two" is the easiest to remember and identify. Hopefully the following information will be helpful in understanding how each of them are used correctly. I know it helped me.

"To generally shows direction. Too means 'also.' Two is the number.

[Example:] We, too, are going to the meeting in two hours."

(Lunsford, The Everyday Writer 313).

http://www.drgrammar.org/faqs/#100

To

To has two functions. First, as a preposition, in which case it always precedes a noun.

I'm going to the store
He went to Italy
This belongs to David

Secondly, to indicates an infinitive when it precedes a verb.

I need to study
We want to help
He's going to eat

Too

Too also has two uses. First, as a synonym for "also":

Can I go too?
He went to France too
I think that's Paul's book too

Secondly, too means excessively when it precedes an adjective or adverb.

I'm too tired
He's walking too quickly
I ate too much

Two

Two is a number.

One, two, three...
I have two cars
She ate two pieces of pie

The Bottom Line

The confusion between to, too, and two occurs because the three words are pronounced identically.

One: If you're able to replace the word with "also" or "excessively/too much," use too. Two: If the word is a number, use two. Otherwise, you'll want to use to.

http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/totootwo.html

The March of the Flag

The speech by Albert Beveridge is a spirited call for over seas colonialism. I enjoyed hearing his passion in his speech, to expand the influence of America all over the world. His comparisons to other super powers of the times and America’s necessity to follow their lead is repeated throughout the speech. I don’t feel that most people would agree with his speech today. History has shown us what happens when local people are dominated by a foreign power. However, to spread our freedoms to others in foreign lands sounds like a great idea.

Farther vs. Further

I was texting the other day, and came across the dilemma whether to use "farther" or "further," so here is the rule I found.

Farther or Further?

Use farther to refer to physical distances.

Example: Indiana is farther than I thought.

Further refers to quantity, time, or degree.

Example: They progressed further on their research.

http://www.drgrammar.org/faqs/#7

Farther is an actual or measurable distance.

Further means more or to a greater extent.

The easiest way to remember the difference between the two words is to focus on the far in farther. If you’re not referring to distance, you cannot use farther.

http://englishvault.blogspot.com/2007/11/farther-or-further.html

I Accept Your Exception!

I have always had difficulty determining whether to use "accept" or "except" in my writing. The following is information from Dr. Grammar that I found to be informative.

Accept is a verb meaning "to receive" or "to approve."
Example: "I accept your offer of the book."
Except is a preposition meaning "excluding" or "leaving out."
Example: "He liked everything on the plate except the liver."
Except can also be a verb meaning "to leave out" or "to exclude."
Example: "He excepted all Corvettes from his list of favorite cars."

http://www.drgrammar.org/faqs/#3

For extra practice with "accept" and "except" here is a helpful website.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/g_acceptexcept.html

I'm Black, You're White, Who's Innocent?

I found Shelby Steele’s essay an interesting look from the other side about race and race relations in our country. I have wondered why it seems that blacks are all to ready to pull the “race card” in many situations. Steele explained that the perceived power struggle between the races leads to these “guilt trips”. I found the view of Jessie Jackson and Bill Cosby very interesting. The non-assigning of guilt by these two men to fit into a white society was a different view I had not understood before. Not many people can say that they were a minority at school especially if they are white, but in middle school I was. I went to a school that was 78% black and only 20% white in the late 80’s in Annapolis, Maryland. Talk about an eye opener but I never fully understood the issues that I was dealing with concerning race until much later. After reading the essay I now see the roles my black friends were taking in regards to me and race.

Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt

**I was looking for a picture to include on my blog, and the more I look at the advertisements the more I understand the point of Jean Kilbourne.**

In the past when I looked at the advertisements all around me I failed to notice all the hidden meanings that Kilbourne suggests are there. I understood that skin sells, just look at the most current Carl’s Jr. commercial. They have a bikini model eating one of their burgers. It’s meant for the men 18 to 35, I get that. However, to look at the commercial and say that she is being preyed upon by men in some way was a little bit of a stretch for me. I do remember the Calvin Klein ads and the models they used did look thin and very young. It is not like I really had an opinion of them and their message at the time. I guess I didn’t notice how the use of women in advertising, to me as a consumer, has some hidden meaning. She makes a lot of good points, and includes several examples in her essay, which will make me look at ads a little bit closer and with a more broad perspective.