also - too - as well

You use also, too, or as well when you are giving more information about something.

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◊ 'also'

Also is usually used in front of a verb. If there is no auxiliary, you put also immediately in front of the verb, unless the verb is `be'.

I also began to be interested in cricket.

They also helped out.

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If the verb is `be', you put also after it.

I was also an American.

Knowledge, which is in many ways our blessing, is also our curse.

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If there is an auxiliary, you put also after the auxiliary.

The leisure centre has also proved uneconomic.

The basic symptoms of the illness were also described on the card.

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If there is more than one auxiliary, you put also after the first one.

We'll also be hearing about the work of Una Woodruff.

If that light blows, then every other light on the circuit will also have gone.

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Also is sometimes put at the beginning of a clause.

I thought it was the perfect answer. Also, Tony and I had never done a historical subject.

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Note that you never put also at the end of a clause.

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◊ 'too'

You usually put too at the end of a clause.

Now the problem affects middle-class children, too.

It was a pretty play, and very sad too.

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In conversation, too is used after a word or phrase when you are making a brief comment on something that has just been said.

`His father kicked him out of the house.' —-`Quite right, too.'

`They've finished mending the road.' —-`About time, too!'

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Too is sometimes put after the first word group in a clause.

I wondered whether I too would become one of its victims.

Physically, too, the peoples of the world are incredibly mixed.

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However, the position of too can make a difference to the meaning of a sentence. `I am an American too' can mean either `Like the person just mentioned, I am an American' or `Besides having the other qualities just mentioned, I am an American'. However, `I too am an American' can only mean `Like the person just mentioned, I am an American'.

He was playing well, too.

Now we have the financial backing too.

Nerissa, too, felt miserable.

Macdonald, too, was alarmed by the violence.

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◊ WARNING

You do not put too immediately after a link verb or an auxiliary. You do not say, for example, `I am too an American'. You also do not put too at the beginning of a sentence.

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For information on other uses of this word, see entry at ↑ too.

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◊ 'as well'

As well always goes at the end of a clause.

Filter coffee is definitely better for your health than boiled coffee. And it tastes nicer as well.

They will have a rough year next year as well.

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◊ negatives

You do not usually use also, too, or as well in negative clauses. You do not say, for example, `I'm not hungry and she's not hungry too'. You say `I'm not hungry and she's not hungry either'. You can also say `I'm not hungry and neither is she' or `I'm not hungry and nor is she'.

Teddy Boylan wasn't at the ceremony, either.

I didn't call America either.

It wasn't the only danger, either.

`I don't normally drink at lunch.' —-`Neither do I.'

`No thank you, I don't smoke.' —-`Nor do I.'

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