Too and enough

Form

too + adjective or adverb
too much/many + noun

adjective or adverb + enough
enough + noun

Functions and examples

1. We use 'too' to mean more than sufficient or more 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.

2. We use 'enough' to mean sufficient and in a negative sentence to mean less than sufficient or less than necessary.

You're not working fast enough, you won't finish on time.
Your clothes are big enough to fit me.
Have you got enough money to buy me a drink?
Sorry, I haven't got enough food for everyone.

Important points

1. We can use 'enough' without a noun if the meaning is clear.

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

2. We use 'enough of' or 'too much/many of' before pronouns and determiners.

Not enough of my friends are coming to the party.
You've eaten too many of those cakes.

3. We can replace 'enough' 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.

4. We can use 'time' or 'room' 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?

Teaching Too and enough

• "Give the rules of both in a very simple way and give importance to exercises, example sentences. I start with too. Students convert the sentences from too to enough.
  
  "She is too young to go to a disco by herself." _______________ (enough)
  "She isn't old enough to go to a disco by herself."
  Anonymous
  
• "Find pictures, for example a small girl standing next to a bicycle (adult) and say:
  "What's the problem? Why can't she ride the bike?"
  The students should come up with: "It's too big or she's too small..."
  Monica
  
• "I usually show the students a picture of a fat woman and ask them if she can win a race and why. I then elicit sentences like:
  
  "She is too fat to win a race or she is not fast enough..."
  
  Another picture shows a man trying to change a bulb, but can't because he's short. Of course, visual aids are very important for this activity. I also show them picture of poor people and help students make sentences such as:
  
  "They are too poor to buy a car / they're not rich enough..." etc.
  
  Brahim
  
• "When I teach the difference between too and enough, I take a cup and fill it with water until it overflows: students cry out: 'It's too much!' I then take another cup and will ask students to tell me when I fill the cup until I have enough: They tell me: 'Enough!' Then I ask the students to give me more examples of too and enough. It works with young children (who need visuals) as well as with students around 18!
  Monique
  

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