Wednesday Word Nerd: Two what?

Another tricky grammar rule that frequently trips up even the most savvy writer: “too” vs. “to.” It would just be great if we could simply write “two” all the time, wouldn’t it? Alas, even math professors and accountants and other number people can’t get around this one.

Very generally speaking, “to” is used either as part of a verb (“I swear, I wanted to slap Jimmy upside the head…) or to indicate a direction, or both (“I need to go to the liquor store, NOW”). This is the “to” that we use most of the time. We use it so frequently we barely even notice it.

“Too,” on the other hand, is often abused. It has two (ha, ha…) primary uses: to indicate comparison or extreme (“I ate way too much of Grandma’s potato salad”), or to show an add-on (“I, too, think Natalie Portman is overrated”). In this second usage, “too” usually needs a comma, too (see how I did that?): “You hate Natalie Portman? Me, too!” I don’t know why it does this, but it does.

Note: a lot of sources, including your lying Spell Check, will tell you that “Me, too” doesn’t, in fact, need a comma. You know my preference. I actually think it’s simpler. After all, “Sara hates Natalie Portman, too” is universally acknowledged as correct, but “Me, too,” isn’t? Screw it. You can just about never go wrong popping a comma in front of that “too” in this usage.

To re-cap: “to” is the workhorse, whereas “too” is the one that means “also” or indicates comparison.

Next time: those darn commas...