1. To indicates the destination of a verb.

Pattern 1: verb + to + 0 noun
I'm going to bed.
They ride to school on the bus.

Nouns commonly used after to:
bed, breakfast, church, dinner, jail, lunch, school, work

Exception:

go 0 home
It is time to go home.
They went home on the bus.

Pattern 2: verb + to + the + noun
We go to the park every afternoon.
Call when you get to the office.

Verbs often used with to:
come, drive, extend, fall, fly, get, go, hike, move, return, ride, rise, run, send, ship, sink, walk

Expression:
to rise to the occasion—to force oneself to act correctly
I was surprised when he walked in, but I rose to the occasion and shook his hand.

2. To indicates the destination of a noun.

Pattern 1: noun + to + noun
The train to New York leaves at six o'clock.
We wanted to go on a cruise to the Caribbean.

Typical nouns used before to:
airplane, bridge, bus, climb, cruise, flight, highway, path, race, road, subway, train, trip, way

Pattern 2: noun + be + to + noun
The train is to New York.
His question is to me.

Typical nouns used before to:
answer, card, donation, explanation, gift, letter, memo, offer, petition, present, proposal, question, request, suggestion

3. To indicates a transfer from a person or place.

Pattern: verb + noun + to + noun
He delivers the mail to the office.
She mentioned her plans to me.

Typical verbs used before to:
bring, carry, deliver, describe, distribute, donate, explain, give, hand, introduce, lend, mention, pass, present, read, recommend, reveal, send, shout, show, sing, speak, submit, suggest, take, tell, write

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