Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

What is the difference between "one on one" , "one by one" and "one to one"?

Thanks

[asterix]

One on one means face to face - just you and I (for example).
One by one means one after another. e.g. One by one he threw out his old records.
One to one, often written 1:1, is a way of expressing a ratio. You might see it in a recipe or in instructions for mixing something. It means that I mix one part of substance A to one part of substance B.