Enough is Enough

Some people don’t know when they have to use TOO and ENOUGH. I hope this explanation will help you.

TOO and ENOUGH indicate degree. They are used with adjectives, adverbs and nouns.

• too + adjective/adverb
• too much/many + noun
• too much/many + of + pronoun/determiner

• adjective/adverb + enough
• enough + noun
• enough + of + pronoun/determiner

TOO is used to mean more than sufficient or more/less than necessary.

·        It’s too late to stop him.

·        Jerry was too young to watch the movie.

·        There are too many people on this train, there’s nowhere to sit.

·        You have too much money, give some to me.

·        You’ve eaten too many of those cakes.

ENOUGH is used to mean sufficient.

·        Your clothes are big enough to fit me.

·        You’ve done enough work. You can stop now.

·        Have you got enough money to buy me a drink?

Enough is used in negative sentences to mean less than sufficient or less than necessary.

·        You’re not working fast enough, you won’t finish on time.

·        Sorry, I haven’t got enough food for everyone.

·        Not enough of my friends are coming to the party.

Additional points

1. Enough can be used without a noun if the meaning is clear.

• There’s a lot of food but not enough for everyone.

2. Enough can be replaced with the before a noun.

• I don’t have the money to go on holiday.
• His company doesn’t have the resources to do the job.

3. Time or room can be used alone to mean enough time or enough room.

• Is there room in your car for one more person?
• Do we have time for a coffee?