is small to

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "is small to" is not correct and does not convey a clear meaning in written English.
It is unclear when this phrase could be used, as it lacks context and proper grammatical structure. Example: "The box is small to fit all the items."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

58 human-written examples

He is small to the point of fragility, and his frame swam in the jumpsuit.

The New Yorker

Our kitchen is small: to open the fridge, we have to evict the shih-tzu.

The New York Times

Mixed, low-input farming is complex and must be skills-intensive; there is little advantage in scale-up so the default farm size is small to medium.

The Guardian - Opinion

The express service may not be getting many riders from eastern towns to Bridgeport or Stamford because the market for the train is small to begin with.

The New York Times

The Knicks are crowded at small forward and Rice, who is listed as 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds, is small to play power forward.

The New York Times - Sports

As would be expected, the difference decreased on routine short putts and also decreased very far from the hole, where the chance of making the putt is small to begin with.

The New York Times - Sports

He is small, to be sure (he claims to be "tall" at five feet seven), and is dressed in his familiar unprepossessing tweed and corduroy, but there's a difference between the magician and his bag of tricks.

The New Yorker

His window of opportunity in professional football, which opened later than most, is small to begin with, so every paycheck, every workout bonus matters for his family and his future.

The New York Times - Sports

"And there will be others who say, 'The overall benefit is small to moderate, and if you can't tell me that I will be the one to benefit from chemotherapy, I will forgo it.' " The second paper, also published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, involved a federal study of more than 10,700 healthy women whose uteruses had been removed.

The New York Times

The likelihood that this will happen is small to judge from the goings on in the trial of Raul Salinas for the 1994 murder of a man who was not only his former brother-in-law but also the secretary-general of the P.R.I.

The New Yorker

The list of those who give this much at the office is small, to be sure; of the more than 5,000 living-donor transplants performed in the United States last year, about 800 came from unrelated friends and acquaintances, according to the National Kidney Foundation.

The New York Times

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When intending to express that something lacks sufficient size or capacity, replace the phrase "is small to" with "is too small to" or "is not large enough to" for grammatical accuracy.

Common error

A common mistake is using "to" instead of "too" when indicating insufficiency. Ensure you use "too" to convey that something is excessively small for a particular purpose. For example, use "The room is too small to accommodate all the guests" instead of "The room is small to accommodate all the guests."

Linguistic Context

The phrase "is small to" is intended to express a limitation or insufficiency. However, it is grammatically incorrect. Ludwig AI marks it as incorrect due to the improper use of "to" instead of "too". The intended meaning is to convey that something lacks the necessary size or capacity for a particular purpose.

Expression frequency: Very common

Frequent in

Science

46%

News & Media

40%

Wiki

8%

Less common in

Formal & Business

4%

Encyclopedias

0%

Social Media

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while the phrase "is small to" appears frequently across various sources, it is grammatically incorrect. According to Ludwig AI, the correct way to express that something lacks sufficient size or capacity is to use "is too small to" or "is not large enough to". Although it is common in Science and News & Media, its incorrect usage lowers its credibility, especially in formal writing. Therefore, always use the grammatically correct alternatives to maintain clarity and precision in your writing.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

is too small to

Replaces "is small to" to clearly indicate inadequacy in size or capacity for a specific purpose.

is not large enough to

Emphasizes the lack of sufficient size to meet a requirement.

is limited to

Indicates a restriction or constraint to a small extent or quantity.

is confined to

Similar to "is limited to" but suggests a more restrictive boundary.

is restricted to

Highlights a limitation imposed on something, keeping it small.

is negligible to

Suggests the smallness makes something insignificant or unimportant.

is insignificant to

Similar to "is negligible to", indicating a lack of importance due to small size.

is minor compared to

Indicates the small size or impact relative to something else.

is modest in

Describes something as being small in quantity, degree, or extent.

is marginal in

Emphasizes the minimal or barely sufficient nature of something.

FAQs

How can I correctly use the idea I'm trying to express with "is small to" in a sentence?

To correctly express the idea, use "is too small to" or "is not large enough to". For example, instead of saying "The box is small to hold everything", say "The box "is too small to" hold everything".

What are some alternatives to "is small to" that are grammatically correct?

Grammatically sound alternatives include "is "too small to"", "is "not large enough to"", or "is "insufficient to"", depending on the specific context.

Is "is small to" grammatically correct, and why or why not?

No, "is small to" is generally considered grammatically incorrect. The correct phrasing to indicate insufficiency is "is too small to" or "is not large enough to". Ludwig AI flags "is small to" as incorrect.

What's the difference between saying "is small to" versus "is too small to"?

While "is small to" is grammatically incorrect, "is too small to" is the correct way to express that something lacks sufficient size or capacity for a specific purpose. Using "too" indicates that the size is inadequate. In essence, "is "too small to"" means something is smaller than necessary.