enough and too

Enough after an adjective or adverb

Enough means as much as you need or want. It does not have to mean a large amount. A small amount may be enough for one job but not enough for another.

An adjective describes something: a bright screen. An adverb can describe how something happens: speak clearly. Put enough after the adjective or adverb it changes.

• The screen is bright enough now. I can read it outside.
• You explained it clearly enough. I understand what to do.
• We arrived early enough to get seats together.

Enough does not mean very. A room can be warm enough to work in without being very warm. The purpose or situation sets the level you need.

Enough before a noun, or after a verb

With a plural count noun or an uncountable noun, put enough before the noun in the main everyday pattern. Count nouns name things you can count, such as cups. An uncountable noun names an amount or substance, such as milk.

• Have we brought enough cups for everyone?
• There is enough milk for breakfast.
• We haven't got enough information to decide yet.

Use enough after a verb when you are talking about doing a sufficient amount of an activity.

• I haven't practised enough this week.
• Did you rest enough after the journey?

Enough can stand without a following noun when the context supplies the meaning. This is called a pronoun use: it takes the place of a noun phrase.

• Do we need more paper? No, we've got enough.
• There are six places left. That should be enough.

The main order is enough time, not time enough. However, do not call every noun plus enough phrase an error. Oxford labels this later position old-fashioned and notes that time enough is still used.

• There'll be time enough to discuss it after lunch. Recognise this accepted later position; use enough time as your main pattern.

Enough big boxes or big enough boxes?

When an adjective comes before a noun, the position of enough changes what you mean. British Council teaches this contrast.

• We don't have enough large bags. We need six, but we have only four.
• We don't have large enough bags. None of these bags will hold the blankets.

In the first sentence, enough goes before the whole noun phrase large bags. In the second, enough goes after large because it describes the degree of size. Do not move it without checking the meaning.

With a singular noun, keep the article that the noun needs.

• It was a quiet enough room for the interview.

Enough of: a named group or amount

Use enough of before a word such as the, this, my or those, or before a pronoun such as us or them. These words point to a particular group or amount.

• We've checked enough of the records to see a pattern.
• Have you eaten enough of your lunch?
• There weren't enough of them to fill both cars.

Compare enough bread, an amount of bread, with enough of this bread, an amount from this particular bread. Do not add of before an ordinary bare plural or uncountable noun in this pattern.

Enough of a plus a singular noun is another pattern. It can describe a large or unwanted degree, rather than a part taken from an actual object.

• The drilling has caused enough of a disturbance already. Please stop for today.

Too before an adjective or adverb

In its excess meaning, too says that something goes beyond what is suitable, wanted or possible. Put it directly before the adjective or adverb.

• The shelf is too high. I can't reach it.
• You moved too quickly for me to follow.
• This room is too small for our whole team.

Compare very and too. Very makes a description stronger; too introduces a limit. The limit may be someone's needs or opinion, not a fixed measurement.

This is not a ban on too with a positive adjective. A solution can be too simple for a complex problem. What matters is whether there is an excess meaning, rather than just praise.

Too much, too many, too little and too few

Use too much before an uncountable noun and too many before a plural count noun. They describe an excessive amount or number.

• There is too much furniture in this room.
• I've opened too many windows on the computer.

Too little and too few go in the other direction: the amount or number is smaller than needed. Use too little with uncountable nouns and too few with plural count nouns.

• We have too little storage for all these files.
• There are too few sockets for our equipment.

You can also put too much after a verb, without a following noun, to describe an excessive amount of an activity. Do not use bare too in its place.

• We've spent too much already.
• I worried too much about the journey.

Too many can stand without a noun when a plural count noun is understood.

• Don't order more notebooks. We've got too many already.

See Much, many and a lot of: few, a few, little and a little and Countable and uncountable nouns: a bag, some luggage for the wider noun and quantity patterns.

Much too is not too much

In much too expensive, much makes too stronger and expensive is the adjective. In too much money, much goes with an amount. Keep the two orders separate.

• The engine is much too noisy for this building.
• The engine makes too much noise.

Far too also makes the excess stronger. A bit too describes a smaller excess.

• This file is far too large to send by email.
• The strap is a bit too short for me.

With a singular count noun, too can also appear in the order too plus adjective plus a or an plus noun. Oxford and Cambridge both show this pattern.

• It was too complicated a process for a small repair.

You can say the same thing with a separate description: The process was too complicated for a small repair. Do not put the article between too and the adjective in the first pattern.

Adding to plus a verb, or for plus a person

A to-infinitive is to plus the base form of a verb, such as to carry. Use it after too or enough to name an action connected with the limit or requirement.

• I was too tired to concentrate on the report.
• She spoke slowly enough to let us take notes.
• We have enough paint to finish this wall.

Add for plus a person before the infinitive when you need to say who does the action. Use object pronouns such as me, him, her, us or them after for.

• The lid is too tight for me to open.
• The text is clear enough for them to read without help.

For can also introduce just a person, thing or purpose, without a following infinitive.

• Is there enough space for another chair?

Check what the subject of the first clause does in the infinitive. In The lid is too tight for me to open, me names the opener and the lid is what I open. The version without a repeated it is the safe model here.

Do not turn that model into a blanket ban. Michael Swan notes that an object pronoun can appear in the construction with for plus a person. This differs from the ordinary short pattern The lid is too tight to open, where you do not normally repeat it after open.

If the first subject does the action, the verb can still need its own object. In I was too tired to open it, I am the opener and it refers to something else. That sentence is correct.

Keep a preposition when the infinitive needs one.

• This desk is big enough to work at. You work at the desk; at is still needed.

Not enough and not too

Not enough means the required level or amount has not been reached. Make the verb negative, or use not enough at the start of a noun phrase.

• The signs aren't clear enough to read from the road.
• We didn't order enough food.
• Not enough people replied to the survey.

Too and not enough can describe the same problem from opposite directions if you change the adjective. Too narrow can mean not wide enough. Too slow can mean not fast enough. Do not simply replace too with not enough and keep every other word unchanged.

Not too denies an excessive degree in its basic meaning. A bag that is not too heavy may be suitable to carry. That does not mean it is not heavy enough.

• The bag isn't too heavy for me to carry.

Some negative phrases use too with a meaning close to very: not too sure can mean not very sure. Cambridge and Oxford record this use. Read the whole phrase rather than assuming every not too phrase measures a practical limit.

• I'm not too sure about the last answer.

Just enough, had enough and other meanings

Just enough says that the amount or degree reaches the requirement, with little or nothing to spare. More than enough says it exceeds the requirement; that need not be a problem.

• We have just enough battery power to make one call.
• We have more than enough chairs, so keep a few in storage.

Enough after an adjective can also give a limited approval: pleasant enough means acceptable, without saying very pleasant. In bad enough already, it can say that you do not want a degree to get any greater. Oxford records both meanings.

• The room was comfortable enough, but nothing special.

Have had enough of something says that you do not want any more of it. This is different from a neutral measurement of part of a group.

• I've had enough of these delays. Let's choose another route.

Enough can also appear in comments such as strangely enough. Here it adds emphasis to a comment, rather than measuring the amount needed for an action.

• Strangely enough, both keys opened the same lock.

Too has other meanings beyond excess. At the end of a clause, it can mean also. See Short answers, so do I, neither do I, and I think so for addition.

• I saved a copy, and my colleague saved one too.

Only too happy or only too pleased can express a positive willingness, not an obstacle. All too can emphasise an unwanted degree. Cambridge records both. These expressions do not change the main excess pattern.

• I'd be only too happy to explain the new system.
• The afternoon passed all too quickly.

What comes next

See Gradable and non-gradable adjectives: choosing degree words for other degree words, Quite and rather, fairly and pretty for quite, rather, fairly and pretty, so and such for so and such, Much, many and a lot of: few, a few, little and a little for quantities, and Adjective + to-infinitive for wider adjective and infinitive patterns.