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To vs Very - What's the difference?

to | very |

As a noun to

is thaw, weather conditions that make snow and ice melt.

As an adjective very is

true, real, actual.

As an adverb very is

to a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.

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

    *

    very

    English

    (wikipedia very)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • True, real, actual.
  • :
  • *Bible, (w) xxvii. 21
  • *:whether thou be my very son Esau or not
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:The very essence of truth is plainness and brightness.
  • *(Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)
  • *:I looked on the consideration of public service or public ornament to be real and very justice.
  • *
  • *:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2012, date=November 7, author=Matt Bai, title=Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.}}
  • The same; identical.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
  • With limiting effect: mere.
  • *, I.40:
  • *:We have many examples in our daies, yea in very children, of such as for feare of some slight incommoditie have yeelded unto death.
  • Synonyms

    *

    Adverb

    (-)
  • To a great extent or degree; extremely; exceedingly.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Then his sallow face brightened, for the hall had been carefully furnished, and was very clean. ¶ There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
  • *, chapter=13
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.}}
  • True, truly.
  • :
  • Usage notes

    * When used in their senses as degree adverbs, "very" and "too" never modify verbs.

    Synonyms

    * (to a great extent) ever so, (l) (dialectal), (l) (archaic), (l) (dialectal)

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    *