Hi! Can I ask you? Can I use ‘as well’ instead of’ too" in sentence : I have this book too.
Explain, please
Spiderman 8)
Hi Spiderman,
Thanks for your message on the forum. Both ‘as well’ and ‘too’ mean in a sense the same as ‘also’ but are slightly/ a little different in their use. I think in your sentence it would be more natural to write: ‘I have this book, too’ in the sense of I also have the book. We USE ‘as well’ in the sense of ‘also’ + the idea of something extra. We could say: My car has electric windows and air conditioning as well’ suggesting that this is more than you expect.
Hope this helps
Alan
You should use “too”.
“As well” means “equally well”, not “too.” In recent times people have confused its meaning. In proper English, the following two constructions have different shades of meaning:
“Jack speaks German. He speaks English, too.” (Jack speaks both languages–“too” is additive).
“Jack speaks German. He speaks English as well.” (Jack speaks them equally well–“as well” is comparativel).
The confusion probably started because of sentences such as “Your brother knows that’s not allowed and you know as well.” The “as well” is short for “as well as he does”, but could be confused in its meaning for “too” or “also.”
The distinction is being lost because broadcast schools teach their students to end sentences with “as well” to sound “professional”, and impressionable listeners follow suit, especially in formal settings but more and more in casual speech.
So strictly speaking, “I have this book as well” is ungrammatical. One cannot “have a book well”, and there is no basis of comparison. But you could say, “I authored this book, and wrote this one as well.” If you want to avoid suggesting that you wrote the two books with equal skill, then you would end with “also” or “too”.
Could you just briefly explain, in layman’s terms, what “proper English” is?