'Enough' and 'Too'

A2 Elementary

Use 'too' to indicate that something is more than necessary or desired, and 'enough' to indicate that something is sufficient or adequate.

Overview

Too and enough are used to talk about degree and quantity. Too has a negative meaning, suggesting that a limit has been exceeded. Enough has a positive or neutral meaning, suggesting that the amount or degree is sufficient for a specific purpose.

Word Order

too + adjective/adverb | adjective/adverb + enough | enough + noun

The position of these words depends on whether they are modifying an adjective, an adverb, or a noun. Too always precedes the word it modifies. Enough follows adjectives and adverbs but precedes nouns.

Too vs. Enough

Note that when using too with nouns, you must add much (uncountable) or many (countable).

Feature	Too	Enough
Meaning	More than necessary (negative)	Sufficient (positive/neutral)
With Adjectives	too hot	hot enough
With Nouns	too much/many water/books	enough water/books

Examples

Common mistakes

The room is enough big.
The room is big enough.
Enough must come after the adjective.
I have too work.
I have too much work.
Too cannot be used directly before a noun; use 'too much' or 'too many'.

Practice

The shoes are ___ (small) for me. I need a bigger size.
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too small
Answer:too small
Why:We use 'too' before an adjective to show that a limit has been exceeded, making it a problem.
Is the water ___ (warm) for you to swim?
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warm enough
Answer:warm enough
Why:With adjectives, 'enough' must come after the word it describes.
We have ___ (money) to buy the tickets.
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enough money
Answer:enough money
Why:With nouns, 'enough' comes before the word it describes.