# EN: too - placement when it means "also"



## Stéphane89

Helle everyone,

I'm sure this question has already been asked, but I could find any topic about it back, so I'm opening a new thread...

I would like to know the difference between these sentence:

_I, too, like horses.
I like horses too._

Which one is the same as "I also like horses", and what does the other mean...

Thank you very much in advance!

*Moderator note:* Multiple threads merged to create this one.


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## marget

I think they can both mean "I also like horses". The first one puts the emphasis on "I", meaning in addition to someone else previously mentioned, but I feel that the second one can mean both "I, as well as someone else" and "horses, as well as other animals".


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## lrosa

I, too, like horses = Moi aussi, j'aime les chevaux

_I_ like horses _too_ (stress on "I" and "too" in speech) = Moi aussi, j'aime les chevaux
I like _horses_ _too_ = I like horses (in addition to something else that has already been mentioned)
I _like_ horses _too _= I like horses (in addition to watching them/riding them)

_I_ _also _like horses = Moi aussi, j'aime les chevaux
I _also _like _horses_ = I like horses (in addition to something else)
I also _like_ horses = I like horses (in addition to watching them/riding them)


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## djamal 2008

I like horses too. Too, here, is adverb of the verbe like. J'aime aussi.
I, too, like horses. Means I with other or others like horses. Moi aussi, j'aime les cheveaux.


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## lrosa

Actually, I think it all depends on the way you say it, i.e. which word you put the stress on. Therefore there can be three different meanings to "I like horses too". "I, too, like horses", however, is unambiguous


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## Rizla

StefKE said:


> _I, too, like horses.
> I like horses too._



La première phrase ça va dire "Comme les autres, j'aime les chevaux."

En  général le deuxième ça va dire "J'aime aussi les chevaux", mais ce peut aussi  avoir la même signification que la première phrase. Ça dépend du contexte.


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## Nico Las

*He has a problem with it, too / He too has a problem with it*

Hi all,

What would be the correct sentence ? Is there any rules at all ? Is the meaning different like in French : ' je ne pense pas lui avoir dit' / ' je pense ne pas lui avoir dit' ?

 Thanks


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## Maître Capello

Les deux sont correctes. Dans la seconde, on insiste sur _he_ (→ _lui aussi_).


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## lucas-sp

Par contre, je dirais que "he, too, ..." sonne forcément plus soutenu que "he ... , too." Donc, pour moi, l'utilisation de "he, too ..." ne peut pas coincider avec la phrase verbale "has got a problem with it" (qui me semble vraiment "casual").

"He, too, has raised concerns" marche bien, parce que le niveau linguistique de "to raise concerns" n'est pas incompatible avec celui de "he, too."

Et en revanche le mot "also" n'est pas assez soutenu que "too." J'accepte "He's got a problem with it also" comme "He's also got a problem with it." On peut insister sur "lui" en utilisant "He's also."


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## JeanDeSponde

Maintenant, si je reprends la phrase proposée (_He [too] has a problem with it [too]_), cela correspond en français à deux animaux différents:

_Lui aussi a un problème avec ça_ -> il n'est pas le seul à avoir un problème
_Il a un problème avec ça aussi_ -> ce n'est pas son seul problème
Je pense qu'il y a les mêmes cas en anglais : _He has a Mercedes, too_ vs. _he too, has a Mercedes_


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## Maître Capello

_He has a problem with it, too._
_He, too, has a problem with it._

Je pense que selon le contexte, la première phrase en anglais peut également avoir le même sens que la seconde. Ce ne sont donc pas forcément des « animaux différents ».


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## lucas-sp

I would say that:

He has a problem with it, too & He, too, has a problem with it = Il n'est pas le seul à avoir un problème
He has a problem with it, too = Il fait beaucoup de choses, dont "having a problem"
He has a problem with *that*, too = Ce n'est pas son seul problème ("it" isn't forceful enough; you need the punch of a more stressed pronoun if you want the meaning of "with that thing as well")

"Also" is different, and can mean a lot more things.


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## Ashmada

> 1. _I, too, like horses._
> 2. _I like horses too._


1. Moi aussi, j'aime les chevaux. -> sous entendu comme toi/vous/lui/elle/eux.
2. J'aime aussi les chevaux. -> sous entendu j'aime les chiens/les chats/les moustiques/le miel ET les chevaux.


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## acbltd

lrosa said:


> I, too, like horses = Moi aussi, j'aime les chevaux
> 
> _I _like horses _too_ (stress on "I" and "too" in speech) = Moi aussi, j'aime les chevaux
> I like _horses too_ = I like horses (in addition to something else that has already been mentioned)
> I_ like_ horses _too_ = I like horses (in addition to watching them/riding them)
> 
> _I also_ like horses = Moi aussi, j'aime les chevaux
> I _also_ like _horses_ = I like horses (in addition to something else)
> I _also_ _like _horses = I like horses (in addition to watching them/riding them)


 
C'est la meilleure réponse ici, et ça marche avec tous expressions avec un sujet et "too." "Too" est un adverbe, mais il peut agir comme un adjectif.
 I, too, like horses: ça veut agir comme un adjectif pour "I."
 I like horses too: c'est un adverbe pour "like."


While "too" may never be formally considered an adjective, it can sometimes act as one as it does in the first sentence. The purpose of the sentence, "I, too, like horses," is to describe that in additional to the presumed previous speaker, the current speaker also likes horses. This also occurs in the expression, "This, too, shall pass," which implies that this will pass as has everything else. Back to our example, because the main object of "I, too, like horses," is to add I to the list of other likes of horses, too in this sentence is clarifying the position of I, a noun. Therefore too acts like an adjective because its reason for inclusion in the sentence is to modify or to clarify a noun.


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## lucas-sp

acbltd said:


> "Too" peut être un adjectif ou un adverbe.


Can you give a source for this claim? I have never seen "too" being considered as an adjective, in any grammar or dictionary. Of course, its force can apply to many different things in a sentence, including nouns, but its role is always adverbial.


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## uptown

I agree that *too* is only an adverb, but adverbs don't modify nouns or pronouns, only verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.


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## acbltd

_Too _in the sentence "I, too, like horses," may be technically be an adverb, and it may technically be modifying the verb like. However, the reason for its inclusion in the sentence is to clarify the position of _I_ in the sentence (if it was not describing that _I_ was being added to the list of others who like horses, the _too_ would not be necessary and the sentence would simply read, "I like horses." So, despite the technical definition, the spirit of _too_ in this sentence is to clarify _I_, meaning its behavior is like that of an adjective.


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## uptown

I hear ya.

You'd expect it to be one of those words with a gazillion definitions... but no: http://www.wordreference.com/definition/too


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## lucas-sp

uptown said:


> I agree that *too* is only an adverb, but adverbs don't modify nouns or pronouns, only verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.


I didn't mean to say that it was _modifying_ a noun. It's clearly modifying an entire sentence/expression/utterance/syntagm. What I was trying to get at was that the _force_ of "too" - the extra emphasis brought to the expression by the adverb - can intend itself towards a noun or pronoun.


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