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To vs From - What's the difference?

to | from |

As prepositions the difference between to and from

is that to is in the direction of, and arriving at while from is with the source or provenance of or at.

As a adverb to

is toward a closed, touching or engaging position.

to

English

Alternative forms

* (dialectal) ter * (contraction) t' * (abbreviation)

Particle

(en-part)
    • I want to leave.
    He asked me what to do.
    I don’t know how to say it.
    I have places to''' go and people '''to see.
  • * 1711 , :
    • To' err is human, ' to forgive divine.
  • * , Scene 1:
    • To be, or not to be: that is the question: /
  • * 2010 July, , headline [http://web.archive.org/web/20100705003703/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gfMucgz8wUGUNUNXRyIyqzY6lWwQD9GM98N83]:
    • Odds are, BP to get new CEO this year
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=April 10 , author=Alistair Magowan , title=Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=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.}}
    • "Did you visit the museum?" "I wanted to , but it was closed."
    If he hasn't read it yet, he ought to .

    Derived terms

    * going to / gonna * got to / gotta * have to / hafta * ought to / oughta * supposed to / supposta * used to / usta * want to / wanna * fixing to / finna

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • In the direction of, and arriving at.
    • We are walking to the shop.
  • * 2013 September 28, , " London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
    • Driven by a perceived political need to adopt a hard-line stance, Mr. Cameron’s coalition government has imposed myriad new restrictions, the aim of which is to reduce net migration to Britain to below 100,000.
    • He devoted himself to education.
    They drank to his health.
    • That is something to do.
    • His face was beaten to a pulp.
    • similar to''' ...'', ''relevant '''to''' ...'', ''pertinent '''to''' ...'', ''I was nice '''to''' him'', ''he was cruel '''to''' her'', ''I am used '''to walking.
  • (arithmetic)
    • one to one = 1:1
    ten to one = 10:1.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=April 22 , author=Sam Sheringham , title=Liverpool 0-1 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=In total, the Reds had 28 shots to their opponent's nine, and 15 corners to the Baggies' three.}}
  • (arithmetic) .
    • Three squared or three to the second power is nine.
    Three to the power of two is nine.
    Three to the second is nine.
    • I gave the book to him.
  • (time) Preceding.
    • ten to''' ten'' = 9:50; ''We're going to leave at ten '''to (the hour).
  • (Canada, UK, Newfoundland, West Midlands) at
    • Stay where you're to and I'll come find you, b'y.

    See also

    * at

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Toward a closed, touching or engaging position.
    • Please push the door to .
  • * 1913 ,
    • He went in his room, pushed the door to , without fastening the latch.
  • (nautical) Into the wind.

    • Synonyms

    * closed, shut

    Antonyms

    * open, ajar

    See also

    * come to * heave to * lean-to * set-to * to and fro * (English Citations of "to")

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 100 English basic words English two-letter words 1000 English basic words ----

    from

    English

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • With the source or provenance of or at.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Orion hit a rabbit once; but though sore wounded it got to the bury, and, struggling in, the arrow caught the side of the hole and was drawn out.. Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft.
  • *, chapter=12
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs,
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
  • With the origin, starting point or initial reference of or at.
  • :
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
  • With the separation, exclusion or differentiation of.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw
    • , title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}

    Synonyms

    * (with the source or provenance of or at) out of

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * form 100 English basic words 1000 English basic words English prepositions ----