two
part of speech
number (two, twos); noun (a two); ordinal second
meaning for a pupil
1) Two is the number 2, one more than one. tree →
2) A two is the digit 2 or a card or die face with 2 on it. tree →
3) «In two» means in two pieces. tree →
4) (casual) «A couple» often means two, but can mean «a few»; «a sec» or «two ticks» (UK) means a short moment. tree →
5) (casual) «Two-faced» means saying one thing and doing another; «my two cents» means my opinion. tree →
6) (casual) In texts «2» can mean «to» or «too»: «c u 2morrow», «me 2». tree →
7) (formal) Exams say «twofold», «a pair of», «both», «double», «duplicate» or «twain» (old). tree →
sense in the lessons
an amount told in words; pairs, twins, both and twice hide a 2; halves split into two equal parts; phrases: «two by two», «in two», «one or two», «a pair», «twice», «two of a kind»; in casual talk «a couple», «back in two ticks», «just my two cents», «me 2»; in rough talk «you two, shut it», «two-faced liar»; in the exam voice «twofold», «both quantities», «a pair of», «in a ratio of two to one»
examples
- I place two apples on the table. tree →
- Two children share 10 sweets equally. tree →
- Mia has two boxes with 6 pens in each. tree →
- We have two hands and two feet. tree →
- Cut the sandwich in two. tree →
- Count in twos: 2, 4, 6, 8. tree →
- My little brother is two years old. tree →
- Back in two ticks, don't eat my chips. tree →
- Oi, you two, shut it and count. tree →
- c u 2morrow, bring 2 pens (the first «2» means «to»). tree →
- A quantity increases twofold, from 8 to 16. tree →
- Both boxes contain 6 pens. tree →
- Already there are two too many. tree →
note
A number word: read it as 2. Trap: «a pair», «twice», «both», «double» and «twofold» also hide a 2. Trap: «a couple» may mean about two or a few. Trap: «two», «to» and «too» sound the same, and texts write «2» for all three. Even numbers can be split into twos with none left over.
In the corpora
- "The terrible twos" means the difficult stage of a toddler around age two.
- the one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to Gamul;
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «two» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.