too

too
too
1. Too is the normal word used to qualify an adjective or adverb to denote excess: The house is too large / I spoke too soon. It should not be used to qualify a participial adjective when this could not idiomatically be qualified by very: She was too tired is acceptable because tired has acquired the role of an ordinary adjective, but She was too affected by their criticisms is less satisfactory because affected is still regarded as part of a verb. In this case a better alternative is She was too much affected by their criticisms or She was excessively affected by their criticisms.
2. When too qualifies an adjective followed by a noun, the usual order is (for example) too large a house rather than a too large house. In more complex sentences it is often preferable to rephrase in order to avoid a clumsy sequence of words with too; for example, The incident arose from a too sudden reaction to the danger would be better expressed as The incident arose because they reacted too suddenly to the danger.

Modern English usage. 2014.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • too — W1S1 [tu:] adv [: Old English; Origin: to to, too ] 1.) [+ adjective/adverb] more than is acceptable or possible ▪ Do you think the music s too loud? ▪ You ve put too much salt in the soup. ▪ There are too many cars on the road. much/far too ▪ …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • too — [ tu ] adverb *** Too is used in the following ways: as an ordinary adverb (before an adjective or adverb or before much, many, few, etc.): You re too young to understand politics. as a way of showing how a sentence, clause, or phrase is related… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Too — Too, adv. [The same word as to, prep. See {To}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Over; more than enough; noting excess; as, a thing is too long, too short, or too wide; too high; too many; too much. [1913 Webster] His will, too strong to bend, too proud to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • too — too; cock·a·too; dus·too·ree; gen·too; po·too; tap·pie·too·rie; tat·too·er; too·lach; too·ner·ville; too·tler; wap·a·too; tat·too; too·na; too·tle; dus·too·ri; pat·too; rat·tat·too; tat·too·ist; tick·tack·too; …   English syllables

  • Too — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: C. C. Too (1920–1992), malaysischer Diplomat Daniel Kirwa Too (* 1976), kenianischer Marathonläufer Daniel Kiprugut Too (* 1978), kenianischer Marathonläufer David Kimutai Too (1968–2008), kenianischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • too — [to͞o] adv. [stressed form of TO1, with differentiated sp.] 1. in addition; as well; besides; also 2. more than enough; superfluously; overly [the hat is too big] 3. to a regrettable extent [that s too bad!] 4. ext …   English World dictionary

  • too — (adv.) in addition, in excess, late Old English, stressed variant of Old English prep. to in the direction of, furthermore (see TO (Cf. to)). The spelling with oo is first recorded 1590. Use after a verb, for emphasis (e.g. did, too!) is attested …   Etymology dictionary

  • too — ► ADVERB 1) to a higher degree than is desirable, permissible, or possible. 2) in addition. 3) informal very. ● none too Cf. ↑none too ORIGIN Old English, stressed form of TO(Cf. ↑ …   English terms dictionary

  • too — [adv1] also additionally, along, as well, besides, further, furthermore, in addition, into the bargain, likewise, more, moreover, to boot, withal; concepts 544,771 too [adv2] excessively awfully, beyond, ever, exceptionally, exorbitantly,… …   New thesaurus

  • too — index also Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”