Using 'enough'

Using 'enough'

Do you know how to use the word enough? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how enough is used.

She's not old enough to walk yet.
We are not acting fast enough to stop climate change.
I don't read enough.
Is there enough coffee for everyone?
We've had enough of their lies.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

'enough': Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

enough means 'as much as necessary'. It can be used with an adjective, an adverb, a verb or a noun. It can also act as a pronoun.

With adjectives and adverbs

enough comes after adjectives and adverbs.

I'm not tall enough to reach the top shelf.
Your marks are good enough to study engineering at university.
I couldn't write quickly enough and I ran out of time.
I've helped at conferences often enough to know what can go wrong.

With verbs

enough comes after verbs.

I make sure I drink enough during the day.
I don't read enough but I'm going to start downloading books to my phone. 

With nouns

enough comes before nouns.

There isn't enough bread to make sandwiches.
Have you got enough money?

As a pronoun

enough can also be used without a noun. 

I'll get some more chairs. There aren't enough.
A: Do you want more coffee? B: No, I've had enough, thanks.

We know what the noun is because of the context.

With an adjective and a noun

When enough is used with an adjective and a noun, two positions are possible but the meaning changes.

We haven't got big enough envelopes. 
We haven't got enough big envelopes.

When enough is after the adjective (big enough envelopes), it describes the adjective – the envelopes are too small. When enough is before the adjective (enough big envelopes), it describes the noun phrase – we have some big envelopes, but we need more.

enough of

We normally only use enough of when it is followed by a determiner or a pronoun (a/an/the, this/that, my/your/his, you/them, etc.).

There isn't enough of that bread to make sandwiches for everyone.
I've seen enough of his work to be able to recommend him.
There's enough of us to make a difference.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2

'enough': Grammar test 2

Language level

Average: 4.4 (34 votes)

Submitted by Larrie on Fri, 15/10/2021 - 19:34

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Hello Staff
Can 'enough' always be considered a quantifier?

Thanks in advance

Submitted by GiulianaAndy on Sun, 18/07/2021 - 03:41

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Hello, great lesson. However, I have a question: May I say: "I am not fast enough to win this rice" and "I am not too fast to win this race" in the same way?

Hi GiulianaAndy,

No, actually only the first sentence using 'enough' is correct. 'Too' means something like 'excessively'. It doesn't have the meaning of 'sufficiently' that 'enough' has.

I hope that helps.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks for your reply. And if I mention this context: I lost the race because " I wasn't too fast to win this race". Is it possible to use "too" with its meaning of excessively in negative sentences?

Hi GiulianaAndy,

No, we don't use too in that way. As Jonathan said, too means excessively, so it always suggests that something is unsatisfactory or problematic.

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Mr.hanymabrok on Wed, 23/06/2021 - 06:16

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very good lesson.

Submitted by GiulianaAndy on Sun, 20/06/2021 - 03:29

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Hi, it's me again, excuse me I have another question: Is it correct to say "He prevented me of coming to the party"? It is not could you please help me to find what preposition should I use instead of "of". Thank you

Hi GiulianaAndy,

It should be He prevented me from coming to the party :)

If you're unsure which preposition to use, sometimes the example sentences in the dictionary are useful (e.g. see this page on prevent in the Cambridge Dictionary). I hope it helps.

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by GiulianaAndy on Sun, 20/06/2021 - 03:23

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Hello, excuse me I have a question, here it is: Is it correct to say: I don't want you to feel sad or I don't want you feel sad? Thank you.