to

Less common meanings

10. 10
    before the hourpreposition

    In telling the time, before the stated hour ('a quarter to six'); the hour may be left out when it is obvious ('it's ten to').

    We arrived at a quarter to midnight.

    The shops close at ten to six.

    Usageten to six means 5:50; the opposite is past: ten past six.

    Similarbefore, of

    Oppositepast, after

    Note

    Clock time counted backward from the next hour: quarter to four is 3:45, and ten to six is 5:50. When the hour is obvious it can be dropped altogether, which gives the bare 'quarter to' of casual speech. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Quarter to four is 3:45. en.wiktionary.org
    • Ten to six is 5:50. europa-lehrmittel.de
11. 11
    ratiopreposition

    Used to show a ratio or comparison; compared with, or as against.

    The odds on the favorite are five to two.

    Women outnumber men here by about three to two.

    UsageRead a ratio like 5:2 as five to two, for odds, scores and mixtures.

    Similaragainst

    Note

    The spoken form of the colon: 1:1 is read one to one, and 10:1 ten to one. Betting odds use the same frame (seven to two), and so do head-to-head comparisons. In ten dollars to your four, the first figure belongs to the speaker and the second to the listener, and the sentence needs no verb of comparing.

12. 12
    preposition

    Used to show whose opinion or experience is meant, or how something seems to a particular person.

    To most voters, the difference between the two candidates seemed small.

    The music felt strangely familiar to him, though he had never heard it before.

    UsageOften at the start: To me, it sounds fine. Common with seem, look, sound and feel.

    Similarfor

    Note

    Here to names the person whose view or experience is meant, as in to me or to most voters. Keep it apart from the conformity sense, which says that something matches a plan or standard, as in built to the drawings.

13. 13
    particle

    Used after be to say what is planned or arranged, what someone must do, or what happened later ('The minister is to speak on Friday', 'They were never to meet again').

    The prisoners were to be moved at dawn.

    She is to report to the manager on Monday.

    UsageOften in news reports and official orders: the minister is to speak, nobody is to leave.

14. 14
    touchingpreposition

    So as to make contact with, press against, or be attached to something.

    He put his ear to the ground and listened.

    The label was glued to the jar.

    Similaragainst, onto, on

15. 15
    preposition

    Marking the components of something, or what is found within it.

    There is a certain charm to the old house.

    There are sixteen ounces to the pound.

    UsageCommon phrases include there's nothing to it and there's more to it. A noun can replace it: there's more to this job.

    Similarin

    Note

    Content or character rather than direction: there's nothing to it, a nice ring to it, sense to what he says. With units, as in a hundred pence to the pound, it tells how many of one make up the other, close to the ratio sense. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • One hundred pence make up one pound sterling. open.edu
16. 16
    with musicpreposition

    Used to show that something happens accompanied by a sound or piece of music, or in time with it.

    The soldiers marched to the steady beat of a drum.

    The bride walked down the aisle to a string version of a pop ballad.

    UsageCommon with verbs of movement and performance: dance to a song, march to a drum, work out to music.

    Note

    Music sets the pace with this to: people march to a drum, dance to a song, work out to a playlist, walk down the aisle to a ballad. It answers the question of what was playing, and often hints at timing as well, as in moving to the beat. Set to music works the same way, for words fitted to a tune.

17. 17
    feeling causedpreposition

    Used to introduce the effect something has or the reaction it causes.

    The bill passed, to the delight of the farmers.

    He announced his retirement to general astonishment.

    UsageCommon in to my surprise, to everyone's relief and to no avail.

    Note

    Here the phrase reports the reaction an action meets: jokes to groans, an announcement to astonishment. With no it becomes a verdict of failure: to no effect, to no avail.

18. 18
    math powerpreposition

    In arithmetic, used to show the power to which a number is raised.

    The number of possibilities is two to the n.

    Five to the third power equals one hundred and twenty-five.

    UsageFor the second and third powers, squared and cubed are more usual: two to the fourth, but three squared.

    Note

    Three spoken forms are current for a superscript: three to the power of two, three to the second power, and the clipped three to the second. For the second and third powers, everyday speech usually prefers squared and cubed. The to forms take over for higher or variable exponents, as in two to the n.

19. 19
    shutadverb

    Into a shut position, or one where parts touch or engage.

    She drew the curtains to against the glare.

    The wind blew the shutter to with a bang.

    Similarshut, closed

    Oppositeopen, ajar

    Note

    A regional adverb for closing a door. Lawrence's character pushed the door to, without fastening the latch, and Fitzgerald's narrator pulled the door to against the rain. It means shut or nearly so, the opposite of open or ajar. It comes after the object, though other words may follow it. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The adverb describes closing; it does not specify whether the door is locked. gutenberg.org
    • A character in D. H. Lawrence's work pushed the door to without fastening the latch. gutenberg.org
    • Fitzgerald's narrator pulled the door to against the rain. gutenberg.org
    • Other words may follow it, as Fitzgerald's 'against the increasing rain' demonstrates. gutenberg.org
20. 20
    prepositiondialectalCanadaNewfoundlandWales

    At; used to say where someone or something is.

    Where are you to, my love? she called up the stairs.

    He was to the shop when the storm hit.

    Similarat

    Note

    A regional use for being somewhere, not going there. Where are you to? means where are you?, and stay where you're to means stay put. It belongs to Newfoundland speech, with its b'y, and to Cornwall, Wales and the West Midlands; a Cornish tale has worn't I to a berrin? Outside those regions it will read as an error, so keep it to dialogue. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • The expressions describe location: 'Where are you to?' means 'Where are you?', and 'stay where you're to' means remain there. en.wikipedia.org
    • Locative 'to' and 'b'y' are features of Newfoundland speech. queensu.ca
    • The quotation 'worn't I to a berrin?' occurs in a Cornish tale. en.wiktionary.org
    • The geographical restriction is too narrow: this sense is also recorded in Wales and the West Midlands. en.wiktionary.org
21. 21
    sailingadverb

    Of a ship, into the wind.

    The yacht came to with her sails shaking.

    Bring her to, the pilot ordered, and drop the anchor.

    Note

    A sailor's adverb for turning a vessel's head into the wind, heard in fixed phrases: bring a ship to, come to, heave to. Like the adverb in push the door to, it stands alone after the verb. Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • The nautical phrases 'bring a ship to', 'come to', and 'heave to' are established expressions. gutenberg.org
22. 22
    SayTOHUS/toʊ/UK/təʊ/

    filler (Indian English)particlecolloquialIndia

    In colloquial Indian English, chiefly in North India, a filler word that also works as a mild intensifier.

    The traffic to is terrible today, I tell you.

    He to is always complaining about work.

    Note

    A different word entirely: Hindi तो (to), carried into colloquial Indian English, chiefly in the north, as a filler and mild intensifier, as in I am to so bored. It has nothing to do with the English preposition. It belongs in relaxed speech among people who share it, not in writing for a general audience. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The Indian English particle is borrowed from Hindi तो (to). en.wiktionary.org
    • The Hindi-derived particle has a different origin from the English preposition. en.wiktionary.org
23. 23
    prepositionobsolete

    As a; in the role or capacity of.

    Note

    An old way of naming a role, usually followed by a bare noun with no article: took her to wife, with God to friend, was sold to slave. Each phrase reads as "as a wife," "as a friend," "as a slave." The use is archaic, so today it signals deliberate old-fashioned style. In ordinary prose, write "as a." It shades into the "becoming" sense, since being sold to slave also means becoming one. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Historical to could introduce a role with the meaning 'as a', as in the three examples. en.wiktionary.org
    • A bare noun is common, but a possessive and adjective can intervene, as in 'to my wedded wife'. en.wikisource.org
    • It is archaic and survives in traditional marriage vows. en.wikisource.org