to
/toʊ/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 7.43 in modern English
2
Scrabble Score
2
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
particle
Used to indicate an obligation on the part of, or a directive given to, the subject.
conj
prep
Indicating destination or final position: In the direction of, so as to arrive at or reach.
Example Sentences
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *doh₁ Proto-Germanic *tō Proto-West Germanic *tō Old English tō Middle English to English to From Middle English to, from Old English tō, from Proto-Germanic *tō ~ *ta, 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, te (“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”). Doublet of too.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: to, tō, *tō, *de, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /toʊ/
- British English: /təʊ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
ter (alternative)
t' (alternative)
2 (alternative)
TOs (plural)
TOs (present, singular)
TO's (present, singular)
TOing (participle, present)
TO'ing (participle, present)
TOd (participle, past)
TOd (past)
TOed (participle, past)
TOed (past)