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Question: When do I use "to" or "too"? Example: too difficult or to stay

Answer: The word too has two common meanings: (1) "also" or "besides" and (2) "excessively." Sometimes people use it informally to mean (3) "very."

The word to is used in all other cases—too many for me to describe in detail. Here are the definitions as listed in the American Heritage Dictionary:

prep.

1. a. In a direction toward so as to reach: went to the city. b. Towards: turned to me.
2. a. Reaching as far as: The ocean water was clear all the way to the bottom. b. To the extent or degree of: loved him to distraction. c. With the resultant condition of: nursed her back to health.
3. Toward a given state: helping minority women to economic equality.
4. In contact with; against: their faces pressed to the windows.
5. In front of: stood face to face.
6. Used to indicate appropriation or possession: looked for the top to the jar.
7. Concerning; regarding: waiting for an answer to my letter.
8. In a particular relationship with: The brook runs parallel to the road.
9. As an accompaniment or a complement of: danced to the tune.
10. Composing; constituting: two cups to a pint.
11. In accord with: job responsibilities suited to her abilities.
12. As compared with: a book superior to his others.
13. a. Before: The time is ten to five. b. Up till; until: worked from nine to five.
14. a. For the purpose of: went out to lunch. b. In honor of: a toast to the queen.
15. a. Used before a verb to indicate the infinitive: I'd like to go. b. Used alone when the infinitive is understood: Go if you want to.
16. a. Used to indicate the relationship of a verb with its complement: refer to a dictionary; refer me to a dictionary. b. Used with a reflexive pronoun to indicate exclusivity or separateness: had the plane to ourselves.

adv.

1. In one direction; toward a person or thing: owls with feathers wrong end to.
2. Into a shut or closed position: pushed the door to.
3. Into a state of consciousness: The patient came to.
4. Into a state of action or attentiveness: sat down for lunch and fell to.
5. (Nautical.) Into the wind.

Someone asked today in a comment whether "documentor" or "documenter" is correct. The correct word is "documenter." The question got me wondering, though, about another spelling dilemma: "adviser" or "advisor."

According to the Cambridge Guide to English Usage (Pam Peters, 2004):

Both these spellings are in current use, though adviser is the dominant spelling in both the US and the UK. The ratio in American data from CCAE is 20:1 and in British data from the BNC it's 6:1. Curiously, advisor is sometimes said to be "the American spelling." �Ķwhatever its past, advisor is registered alongside adviser in major British, American, Canadian and Australian dictionaries.

The Columbia Guide to Standard American Usage tersely states, Both spellings are Standard.

For this word, my preference is to go with common usage and write "adviser."

Someone wrote in asking what the rule is for changing dis- to dys-.

Actually, there is no rule for changing one to the other, as far as I know. Instead, the two prefixes come from different sources.

• dis- is a Latin prefix with a number of meanings. It is by far the more common of the two prefixes.
• dys- has its origin in the Greek prefix meaning "bad."

Whether to use one or the other depends entirely on the word and its origin.

Definitely is a word that I saw misspelled a lot when I was teaching high school. Many students wanted to put an "a" after the "n" and spell it definately.

The funny thing is that sometimes my students' word processors would politely offer to change the misspelled word to defiantly, which, as you can imagine, would give their sentences a whole new meaning.

Here's the rule, then: Definitely has two i's. If you forget the rule, think of (de)finite, which clearly uses an "i" rather than an "a."

Here's the classic spelling rule that all native English speakers learn in the first years of school. If you're unsure whether to spell a word with an ie or an ei, use ie unless the two letters are preceded by c.

Therefore, we have hierarchy and ceiling.

As with all rules in English, however, there are exceptions. Three that immediately come to mind are weird, weight, and their

Some words sound as if they have er at the end of them, even though they don't. Here are a few examples:

• doctor
• calendar
• grammar
• horror

Many people come to this website through Google or some other search engine as a result of searching for grammer. If you are one of those people, please note that you are spelling the word wrong incorrectly. Grammar has "ar" at the end of it, not "er." Nevertheless, you are still welcome here.