to
Language: English
Part of speech: particle
Pronunciation: enpr: to͞o
ipa: /tuː/
ipa: [tu̟ː]
ipa: [tʰʊw]
ipa: /tiː/
ipa: [tʰʉw]
ipa: [tʰu̟(ː)]
ipa: [t(ʰ)u̟ː]
ipa: [tʰʉː]
homophone: too
homophone: two
rhymes: -uː
ipa: /tə/
note: before a consonant
ipa: /tʊ/
note: before a consonant
note: after a vowel
ipa: [ɾə]
ipa: /tɪ/
ipa: /tʊ/
ipa: /tu(ː)/
ipa: [tʊ(w)]
ipa: /tɪv/
ipa: [t(ʰ)ʉw]
ipa: [tʊ(w)]
ipa: [tu̟]
note: after a vowel
ipa: [ɾʊ(w)]
note: after a vowel
ipa: [ɾu̟]
ipa: [tʊ(w)]
ipa: [tu̟(ː)]
note: Indic, always
ipa: /ʈʊ/
Forms: form: ter
form: t'
form: 2
Etymology: 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.
Senses: examples: text: I want to leave.
text: He asked me what to do.
text: I have places to go and people to see.
text: To err is human.
text: Who am I to criticise? I've done worse things myself.
text: Precisely to get away from you was why I did what I did.
text: I need some more books to read and friends to go partying with.
text: To err, is human; to forgive, divine.
ref: 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC:
text: To be, or not to be: that is the question: / […]
ref: c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
text: Odds are, BP to get new CEO this year
ref: 2010 July, “Archived copy”, in Associated Press, archived from the original on 05 Jul 2010, headline:
text: 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.
ref: 2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: A particle used for marking the following verb as an infinitive.
examples: text: "Did you visit the museum?" "I wanted to, but it was closed."
text: If he hasn't read it yet, he ought to.
glosses: As above, with the verb implied.
examples: text: You are to go to the store and buy a bottle of milk.
glosses: Used to indicate an obligation on the part of, or a directive given to, the subject.
examples: text: I went to the shops to buy some bread.
qualifier: expressing purpose
glosses: In order to.
Derived terms: english: fixing to
translation: fixing to
word: finna
english: going to
translation: going to
word: gonna
english: got to
translation: got to
word: gotta
english: have to
translation: have to
word: hafta
english: ought to
translation: ought to
word: oughta
english: supposed to
translation: supposed to
word: supposta
english: used to
translation: used to
word: usta
english: want to
translation: want to
word: wanna