To vs. Too

• To is a preposition with several meanings, including “toward” and “until.”
• Too is an adverb that can mean “excessively” or “also.”
• Just to be clear: two is pronounced the same as to and too, but it can’t be used instead of either of them because it’s a number.

In the hierarchy of things that drive grammar sticklers mad, to and too are near the top. It’s very common to see them confused, abused, and misused, and not just in YouTube comments or on Reddit. People seem to mix up these two funny little words all over the place, and it’s something that can happen to anyone.

How to Use To

To is a preposition and a versatile little word that can be used to say many things. You can use it to indicate a goal or a direction of movement, as well as a place of arrival. That’s the way you use it when you say you’re going to class tomorrow. To also plays a role when we want to indicate that a verb is an infinitive.

You’ll often use to when you want to indicate a relationship between words, relationship like possession, attachment, and addition. You get attached to people, you have things that belong to you. To is also used to indicate a range or a period of time, like when you say it will take you five to ten minutes to finish something.

There are other things for which we use the word to, but by now you should know enough of them to make sure you notice the difference between it and too.

How to Use Too

Too is also a useful little word, but it’s not a preposition like to, and it doesn’t have as many meanings. You can use it instead of “besides,” “in addition,” “also,” or “as well.” But you can use it for other things, too, like when you want to indicate excessiveness. If you find grammar tough, you can say that it’s too hard. In casual speech, speakers sometimes use too in the sense of “very”: That gal is too funny!

To, Too, and Two

Apart from being spelled very similarly, to and too are pronounced the same—[too]. And there’s another word that’s also pronounced that way: the number two. We call words that share a pronunciation homophones, and if you take a look at any list of commonly confused words, you’ll find plenty of homophones on it. Words like there, their, and they’re, your and you’re, and bear and bare are up there, along with to, too, and two. It doesn’t matter whether the homophones have different meanings and uses or if they are in completely different word classes; we still mix them up.

The only way to fix this is to repeat over and over again what each of the homophones means so that people who don’t know it get the chance to learn. For those who know the difference, a few minutes of proofreading should fix the issue.

How to Remember the Difference Between To and Too

Since they are pronounced the same, you don’t have to worry about mixing up to and too in speech. It’s writing that creates problems. But there’s an easy way to make sure you’re using the correct word. Because to can be used in more ways than too, it’s easier to remember that too can be replaced with “also,” “very,” or “excessively.” If you’re not sure whether the to you’ve written should actually be a too, try replacing it with one of those substitutes. If it works, you’ve made a mistake. If it doesn’t, you’re good. You can do the same to make sure that your toos are indeed toos and not tos.

Examples of To vs. Too

Crucially the FCO stopped well short of advising against travel to France, which is the most popular holiday destination in the world (and the second-most popular, after Spain, for UK holidaymakers). —The Independent

Had David Cameron not won an election he never expected to win, he might not have lost a referendum he never expected to lose. —The Guardian

Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale has announced his engagement to long-term girlfriend Emma Rhys-Jones. —The Daily Mirror

The African turquoise killifish has one of the shortest lifespans of all vertebrates: it reaches the ripe old age of only three to twelve months. —New Scientist

But from what we’ve seen in this tournament I think she meant it, too. —The Guardian

Chances are that too much information running through our small brains clouds our thinking, making it more difficult to do our jobs. —TechCrunch

On the other hand, given that these references are too obvious, they may have been intentionally included to insinuate a Kemalist junta rather than a Gulenist one. —BBC

Adjectives and Adverbs–What’s the Difference?

Many of us learned in school that adjectives modify nouns and that adverbs modify verbs. But as we’ve seen, adjectives can also act as complements for linking verbs. This leads to a common type of error: incorrectly substituting an adverb in place of a predicate adjective. An example you’ve probably heard before is:

I feel badly about what happened.

Because “feel” is a verb, it seems to call for an adverb rather than an adjective. But “feel” isn’t just any verb; it’s a linking verb. An adverb would describe how you perform the action of feeling—an adjective describes what you feel. “I feel badly” means that you are bad at feeling things. If you’re trying to read Braille through thick leather gloves, then it might make sense for you to say “I feel badly.” But if you’re trying to say that you are experiencing negative emotions, “I feel bad” is the phrase you want.

It’s easier to see this distinction with a different linking verb. Consider the difference between these two sentences:

Goober smells badly.

Goober smells bad.

“Goober smells badly” means that Goober, the poor thing, has a weak sense of smell. “Goober smells bad” means Goober stinks—poor us.

The Top Cities in Pro Sports . . . Grammatically Speaking

In 2015, Grammarly put pro sports fans to the test. We wanted to see who had the best writing chops when they were cheering on their favorite teams online. Our first study— ranking NFL fans by their spelling, grammar, and punctuation—proved so popular that we went on to rank MLB and NBA enthusiasts, as well.

To wrap up the year in sports (Grammarly style), we decided to see which pro sports cities had game. Sports lovers in the great state of Tennessee surprised us by coming in both first and last. Memphis ranked number 1, lead by grammatically adept Grizzlies (NBA) fans. Nashville lumbered in at the back of the pack, hindered by typo-prone Titans (NFL) fans. NBA fans made the fewest mistakes overall, and NFL fans the most.

To share this infographic with your blog readers, embed this in your blog post by pasting the following HTML snippet into your web editor:

Please attribute this infographic to https://www.grammarly.com/grammar-check

Methodology

We began by collecting the first five comments posted under articles on each official MLB, NBA, and NFL team blog from official sports team and sports fan websites, like NFL.com and  SB Nation, until we had gathered a total of 100 comments for each team. Each comment contained at least 50 words and was posted within an average timespan of two months ending October 20, 2015.

Using Grammarly, we identified the errors in the comments, which were then verified and tallied by a team of live proofreaders. For the purposes of this study, we counted only black-and-white mistakes such as misspellings, wrong and missing punctuation, misused or missing words, and subject-verb disagreement. We ignored stylistic variations such as the use of common slang words, team and player nicknames, serial comma usage, and the use of numerals instead of spelled-out numbers.

Finally, we calculated the average number of mistakes per one hundred words by dividing the total word count of the comments by the total number of mistakes for each team.

Simile and Metaphor—What’s the Difference?

While both similes and metaphors are used to make comparisons, the difference between similes and metaphors comes down to a word. Similes use the words like or as to compare things—“Life is like a box of chocolates.” In contrast, metaphors directly state a comparison—“Love is a battlefield.”

---

Here are some examples of similes and metaphors:

Life is like a box of chocolates. (Simile) My life is an open book. (Metaphor) That baby is as cute as a button!(Simile) Baby, you’re a firework.(Metaphor)

Simile vs. Metaphor Quiz

Both similes and metaphors add color and depth to language. Share your favorite similes and metaphors in the comments!

Discrete vs. Discreet: What’s the Difference?

• Discreet and discrete are homophones. They sound the same but they have different definitions.
• Discreet means careful or intentionally unobtrusive.
• Discrete means distinct or unconnected.

---

Homophones are nothing but trouble. They often top the lists of commonly confused words and spelling mistakes. There’s no way of knowing what they mean unless you hear them in context or see them in writing. But even when you see them in writing, many homophone pairs are spelled so similarly that you might not know which is which. “Discreet” and “discrete” is one of these pairs.

Discreet and Discrete: What’s the Difference?

“Discreet” has the better-known meaning: inconspicuous, proper, private, or unnoticeable. If you were a person who handles problems (especially potentially embarrassing problems) without calling attention to them, you might be considered a discreet person. You can also be discreet about your accomplishments, which would mean that you’re not boastful.

“Discrete,” on the other hand, means separate. If you’re into computers, you might be aware of the difference between discrete graphics cards and integrated ones. Techwalla.com describes a discrete graphics card as a “separate, or discrete, graphics processing unit (GPU) and separate graphics memory.” Sometimes, you can directly substitute the word “discrete” for the word “separate.” For example, if you have to put together a piece of furniture that comes in five separate parts, you could say that the five parts are discrete.

Discreet Definition and Examples

You can use the adjective “discreet” in several ways:

To describe a person with proper conduct, especially with regard to speaking:

“I’d like to see him a little more discreet at times,” she said. “I would hope he would learn a little more diplomacy.” —The Chronicle Telegram

To describe a person or a thing that’s not obstructive or easily noticeable:

The Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge was launched by the NIH division as part of its commitment to look for a non-invasive, discreet wearable technology not only for use by the authorities, but also for individuals. —Science World Report

To describe person or object that is not pretentious; a modest person or object:

Service is attentive without being intrusive, in keeping with the overall air of discreet, understated elegance in the whole establishment. —Director Magazine

The adverb form of “discreet” is “discreetly:”

No one has asked to recreate any of the receptions in Four Weddings and a Funeral but it could probably be discreetly arranged. —Radio Times

To act with discretion is to avoid causing offense or revealing sensitive information. “Discreetness” is also an acceptable noun form, but it’s less common than “discretion”:

Owners have designed their business around the idea that people will be willing to pay $250 a month to eat, drink and conduct business in a place that promises discreetness in an era when every moment is documented by somebody via cellphones and social media. —Arkansas Online

Discrete Definition and Examples

The adjective “discrete” can be used to describe

A person or object that is not connected with something; a part of something that is individual and separate:

If you’re a casual or mainstream gamer, you don’t need a discrete graphics card, Intel says. Instead, look at integrated graphics, which are getting more powerful by the day, said Gregory Bryant, vice president and general manager of Intel’s desktop clients platform. —PC World

In mathematics, having a finite number of elements: There are two types of variable—discrete and continuous. A discrete variable can only take certain values from a finite set. A continuous variable can take any value. —BBC

The adjective form of discrete is “discretely”:

For the Atrum 2013 and 2014 exploration programs, all coal seams intersected were sampled. Coal plies were sampled discretely on the basis of lithological characteristics and quality. —ABN Newswire

“Discreteness” is the noun form of “discrete:”

Acquiring knowledge almost always serves the public good. Deploying that knowledge is a 50-50 enterprise at best. Recognizing the discreteness of these two elements of science is the surest way to reconcile them. —The Washington Post

You might be annoyed with pair, pare, and pear, but at least discreet and discrete no longer have to annoy you. Discrete means separate, and discreet means “with caution” or “intentionally unobtrusive.” If it is still a little confusing, try to make a mnemonic. For example, the two E’s of discrete are separated by a T, so discrete means separate. What else can you think of to distinguish these two homophones from each other?

How Long Should a Paragraph Be?

Various educators teach rules governing the length of paragraphs. They may say that a paragraph should be 100 to 200 words long, or be no more than five or six sentences. But a good paragraph should not be measured in characters, words, or sentences. The true measure of your paragraphs should be ideas.

Your childhood teacher did not wrong you when he or she taught you that there should be three, or four, or five sentences in a paragraph. It is important to understand, however, that the aim in teaching this was not to impart a hard-and-fast rule of grammar, drawn from an authoritative-but-dusty book. The true aim of this strategy was to teach you that your ideas must be well supported to be persuasive and effective.

The model regarding paragraph length that your teacher undoubtedly taught you involves a topic sentence, a number of facts that support that core idea, and a concluding sentence. The proviso about the number of sentences between the topic sentence and the conclusion was not given to you because it was the magic formula for creating paragraphs of the perfect length; rather, your educator was attempting to give you a good reason to do adequate research on your topic. Academic writing yields the best examples of the topic-support-conclusion paragraph structure.

Recent research has provided a wealth of insight about how dogs came to be domesticated by humans and the roles they played in Native American culture. DNA studies on archaeological finds suggest that dogs may have been domesticated by humans as long as 40,000 years ago. When the first humans came to North America from Eurasia, at least 12,000 years ago, domesticated dogs came with them. They appear to have been highly prized by early North American hunter-gatherers and were their only animal companions for centuries, since there were no horses on the continent until the 16th century.

You can see from this example how a topic is introduced, supported, and then brought to its natural conclusion. Yet, not all writing is academic, and once you have learned the concept behind good paragraph construction—which is really the art of focused writing in disguise—you should know that there are times when paragraph “rules” can, and should, be broken.

How to Write Paragraphs People Want to Read

The fact of the matter is that although you may have numerous valid facts or descriptions related to your paragraph’s core idea, you may lose a reader’s attention if your paragraphs are too long. What’s more, if all of your paragraphs are long, you may lose opportunities to draw your reader in. Journalists, for example, know that their readers respond better to short paragraphs. News readers generally lose interest with long descriptions and even one-sentence paragraphs are considered both acceptable and impactful.

Firefighters rushed to First Avenue today to extinguish a blaze on the 1500 block. Anguished onlookers hoped that the flames would be subdued in time to rescue the building’s most prized inhabitants.

They weren’t.

The cat hospital was gone.

When it comes to maintaining a reader’s attention, a good rule of thumb might be to avoid writing more than five or six sentences in a paragraph before finding a logical place to break. That said, remember that the idea behind a paragraph might be short and sweet, or it might merit deeper explanation. There are no strict rules about how many words or lines your paragraphs should be, and there’s no need to lock your doors if you occasionally write long or short ones. The grammar police aren’t coming for you.

Talk Like a Copy Editor and Learn Something New in the Process

If a publisher offers you a kill fee, don’t panic! They’re not asking you to murder anyone. A kill fee is money paid for a piece of writing if they decide to kill it—i.e., not publish it. If you want to make it in the writing industry (and avoid criminal charges), you need to learn the lingo. Let’s start right now.

Basic Writing Jargon

Have you heard of a policeman’s beat? It’s the area he regularly patrols. For reporters, a beat might refer to a physical location or a topic that they often cover. To illustrate, Jody Reporter might specialize in politics while John Reporter covers health care. When a politician does something notable, the newspaper will automatically assign Jody to cover the story because her beat is politics.

Jody will investigate and submit her copy to the editor. Copy is the content of a news article. Now, that makes it clear what copy editors do! They read the material, point out errors, and suggest improvements to increase clarity, readability, and accuracy.

What happens if new information becomes available after Jody’s article appears in the newspaper? The journal might invite her to write a follow-up. Follow-ups present the news from a different angle, clarify facts, or reveal new developments in the original story.

Copy Editing Abbreviations

In Jody and John’s busy press office, who has time to say a whole phrase when deadlines loom? Try to guess the full terms expressed by these abbreviations: on spec, graf, and ezine.

What if John hasn’t received any requests from publishers recently? He might take the initiative and submit a story on spec—without a contract in place. He’s taking a chance, hoping that the publishers will accept his piece. “Spec” derives from speculation. A writer speculates, based on the type of publication and what it has published in the past, that a certain piece will work well for them. If all goes to plan for John, the publishers will like his work and offer him a fair price.

A graf is a paragraph. Did you guess correctly?

Ezine stands for “electronic magazine.” Ezines may publish exclusively online, or they may also have a print edition.

Writing Expressions You Already Use

Have journalistic phrases snuck into your vocabulary without you realizing it? For example, angles aren’t just for geometry class. An angle is the perspective of a story. To illustrate, Jody might write a news article reporting the statement released by Miami’s mayor about the recent hurricane. John’s angle would cover the situation at the local hospitals as they attempt to treat people hurt during the evacuation of the city. Several reporters might pursue different angles of the same topic.

Another term you may already use in everyday speech is “kicker”. Have you said “Here’s the kicker. . .” as you added a surprising detail to a personal account? In the world of journalism, a kicker is a small headline that accompanies the main headline. Usually, it appears on the left side of the title in a different font to set it apart from the rest of the text.

Important Acronyms

When copy editors talk in acronyms, you can easily get lost. Acronyms are a type of abbreviation formed by the first letters or components of a word, syllable, or phrase. Some common writing acronyms are nib, EOD, COB, and AP style.

Nib stands for “news in brief.” Newspapers use the term when, instead of a full-length article, they publish a short paragraph covering a topic. To see an example, visit the DW website to view “top stories in three minutes.”

EOD is short for “end of day.” Some employers use EOD to refer to the end of the 24-hour day (i.e., midnight). However, most jobs mean the end of the workday. A second acronym, COB (close of business) reflects this idea more accurately than EOD. Therefore, if the publication office closes at 6 pm, Jody would need to deliver her work before that time. (For courtesy’s sake, she may want to turn in work fifty to thirty minutes before closing.) Remote workers usually use the timezone of their employers.

AP Style is a term you are likely to encounter once you get your first writing job. No, it’s not related to the Gangnam Style made famous by the South Korean recording artist PSY. AP stands for Associated Press, which, according to Thought Co., is the world’s oldest news service. The service sets the standard for writing—from how to punctuate to what words to capitalize—for newspapers and digital publications. They publish the rules in the AP Stylebook. If you don’t write according to current AP guidelines, your work will stick out like a sore thumb!

Start your journalism career on the right foot. You’ll sound like a real copy editor if you learn these industry-specific terms.