ENOUGH – As much or as many of something as is necessary
“We’ve waited long enough.” (We don’t have to wait any longer. No more waiting is necessary.)
TOO – Shows that there is more of something than is necessary
“We’ve waited too long.” (We have waited for more time than is necessary.)
Enough or Too?
One of my friends loves to run marathons. He once asked me if I was interested in trying a half marathon. I said, “No, I’m not in good enough shape to run 20 kilometers.”
I told this story to one of my private students, and we practiced how to use enough in natural English. My student then told me she is sometimes confused about whether to use the word enough or too.
I gave her an answer and then I turned that answer into a blog post so I could share it with English Learners around the world.
- Too and Enough meaning
- Too and Enough grammar
- Too and Enough example sentences
- Too and Enough quiz
- Too and Enough PDF
- Too and Enough Infographic
Enough and Too meaning
English vocabulary – Enough meaning
In English, enough can mean as many or as much as somebody needs or wants LINK
We use enough after adjectives and adverbs.
- I’m not in good enough shape to run 20 kilometers.
Enough can be used before nouns.
- Make sure we have enough chairs in the meeting room for the 3:00 meeting.
Enough can be used by itself.
A: “Do you need any more money before your trip?”
B: “No, I have enough.”
*in this sentence enough is a pronoun that means all the money that I need.
Enough pronunciation
Enough sounds like E-NUFF. In this word, the letters gh make an F sound.
“I’m not in good enough shape to run 20 kilometers.”
English vocabulary – Too meaning
Too is used before adjectives and adverbs to say that something is more than is good, necessary, possible, etc. LINK
I wanted to go for a jog today but I’m too tired.
Too can also mean very.
- I shouldn’t be too long. (Not very long.)
- Mom will not be too happy when she sees the mess you made. (Not very happy. Mad)
The adverb too, the preposition to, and the number two are all pronounced the same.
- I took two girls to the movies on Tuesday, it was too much. One is enough!
Too and Enough grammar
Enough noun for someone/something
- Peter has finally saved up enough money for a new car.
- I don’t have enough time for this right now.
Too adjective for someone/something
- These sneakers are too small for me. Do you have a bigger pair?
- It’s too late for me to have a cup of coffee.
Enough noun to do something
- Peter has finally saved up enough money to buy a new car.
- I don’t have enough time to do this right now.
Too adjective to do something
- I’m too tired to go for a jog.
- It’s too late to drink coffee now. I won’t be able to sleep
Enough and Too example sentences
Enough
- Shelley added more sugar because the pudding wasn’t sweet enough.
The pudding is not as sweet as Shelley wants.
- Kevin is 30 minutes late! Let’s go without him, we’ve waited long enough.
We don’t need to spend more time waiting.
- How many people are coming to the meeting? I want to make sure we have enough chairs.
I want to make sure we have as many chairs as we need.
Enough noun for something
- Greg doesn’t have enough time for another task. He’s already too busy.
- Sarah isn’t old enough for a part-time job, she’s still in Jr. High school.
- My old apartment wasn’t big enough for 2 people. I had to move after I got married.
Enough noun to do something
- Greg doesn’t have enough time to start another task. He’s already too busy.
- Sarah isn’t old enough to work part-time, she’s still in Jr. High school.
- I hope I have enough time to visit the CN tower when I’m in Toronto.
Too
- Too many of my coworkers called in sick this week. I have to do too much work!
- There’s too much Furniture in this room. Let’s move a few pieces to another room.
Too adjective for something
- It’s too late for lunch, let’s have an early dinner.
- A Tesla roadster is cool but it’s too small for my family.
- Thai curry is too spicy for me.
Too adjective to do something
- I think it’s too late to go to the movies now.
- It’s too early to tell.
- If you get in late try not to make too much noise.
Too and Enough Quiz
Answer these 15 Too or Enough questions and test your English!
Choose the correct answer.
1) Try on the sweater. If it’s _______ for you we will buy it.
- big enough
- too big
2) It’s _______ to walk downtown by yourself at night.
- dangerous enough
- too dangerous
3) Can you look in the fridge and tell me if we have _______?
- enough milk
- too much milk
4) I couldn’t carry the boxes. I’m not _______.
- strong enough
- too strong
5) I saw a beautiful watch today. I’d love to buy it but it’s _______, I need to save more money.
- expensive enough
- too expensive
6) I wanted to meet my friends after work for a drink but I didn’t have _______. I just went home.
- enough energy
- too much energy
7) I like Brian he always makes me laugh. He’s _______.
- funny enough
- too funny
8) I double-checked the food to make sure we have _______ for everyone coming to the party.
- enough food
- too much food
9) I wonder if our front door is _______ for our new washing machine to fit through.
- wide enough
- too wide
10) I have one more week to finish this report. That should be _______.
- enough
- too much
11) Can you turn on the air conditioner? It’s _______ in here.
- hot enough
- too hot
12) Let’s put Marco in the back row. He’s _______ to sit in the front.
- tall enough
- too tall
13) I forgot my wallet. I didn’t have _______ with me to buy a coffee this morning.
- enough money
- too much money
14) I’d love to help you Marsha but I’m _______ today.
- busy enough
- too busy
15) These instructions are _______.
- complicated enough
- too complicated
Too and Enough Quiz answer AUDIO
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Too and Enough PDF worksheet
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Too and Enough Infographic
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