How to Use the Preposition To

To is one of the most common prepositions in English. The preposition to also a part of the infinitive form of the verb. For example, these are all infinitives: To doTo playTo sing Infinitives can be combined with other verbs such as hope, arrange, want, etc. I hope to see you next week.Tom arranged to have his sister picked up at the airport.Your sister wants to help you understand mathematics. The preposition to is also used as a preposition of movement or direction. To is sometimes confused with at or in. Both at and in show the place, but to shows movement to this place. For example: I live in Boston. Lets meet Tim at the town center for lunch. BUT I drove to Boston. We walked to the town center for lunch. Here is a summary of the uses of the preposition to. Important prepositional phrases with to are also used as discourse markers beginning sentences to link one sentence to the next. The Preposition To for Movement Use the preposition to when indicating that there is movement from one place to another. In other words, the preposition to with verbs such as drive, walk, go, hike, fly, sail, etc. Were flying to San Francisco on Thursday for a meeting.We thought we should walk to the bakery for breakfast because it is such a beautiful day.The captain sailed to the closest port. It should be noted that the preposition to is never used with the verb arrive even though it indicates movement. Use the preposition at with the verb arrive I arrived at work early in the morning.The children arrived at the park to meet their friends. To as Time Expression The preposition to can also be used to refer to time in the same sense as the time expressions till or until. Meridith worked to (OR until, till) five and then left.Were going to wait another three weeks to the end of the month. From/To Time Expressions When a starting time and a finishing time is mentioned, use the preposition from to express the beginning and to for the end. We usually work from eight in the morning to five oclock.She played the piano from ten to twelve. To in  Phrasal Verbs The preposition to is also used in many phrasal verbs. Here is a short list of some of the most common: look forward to somethingobject to somethingappeal to someoneboil down to somethingget to something I look forward to seeing you soon.Peter objected to the way he acted.That car really appeals to Susan.It boils down to this: You need to work hard.Just a moment, Ill get to that subject soon. To as Infinitive of Purpose   The preposition to is used as an infinitive of purpose to mean in order to. For example: I spent some money (in order) to get some help.Susan hasnt worked so hard (in order) to give up! Linking Phrases With To The preposition to is also used in a number of common phrases to link ideas, often at the beginning of a sentence. To a great extent To a great extent begins or ends sentences expressing that something is mostly true. To a great extent, the students work hard in this schoolI agree with Toms ideas to a great extent. To some extent To some extent is used to express that something is partially true. To some extent, I agree with the ideas introduced in this discussion.The parents are at fault to some extent. To begin/start with To begin/start with is used to introduce the first element in a discussion with many points. To begin with, lets discuss the problems weve been having in the classroom.To start with, Id like to thank you for coming tonight. To sum up To sum up introduces a final review of the key ideas in a discussion. To sum up, we need to invest more money in research and sales.To sum up, you think that its all my fault!. To tell the truth To tell the truth is used to express an honest opinion. To tell you the truth, I think Doug is not doing a very good job.To tell you the truth, Im tired of listening to politicians tell us lies.