Too, too much, too many, enough

Too, too much, too many, enough

too

Before an adjective/adverb

We use too before an adjective or an adverb to mean ‘more than we need’ or ‘more than is necessary’.

• You are too young to enter this club. 
• We arrived too late. 

too much

Before an uncountable noun

We can use too much before uncountable nouns to mean ‘more than we need’ or ‘more than is necessary’.

• The doctor said that I drink too much coffee. 
• I hate this city. There’s too much traffic.

After a verb

We can also use too much after a verb.

• You can’t take the car. You’ve drunk too much.  
• He talks too much.

too many

Before a plural noun

We use too many before plural nouns to mean ‘more than we need’ or ‘more than is necessary’.

• I didn’t enjoy the concert. There were too many people.
• They lost because they made too many mistakes. 

enough

Before a noun

We can use enough + noun to say that something is the correct number or amount.

• I have saved enough money to go to Rome on holiday. 
• Do you have enough butter to cook?

In negative sentences, we use (not) enough + noun to say that something is less than we want or we need.

• We don’t have enough money to travel. 
• I don’t have enough time to finish my homework before Monday. 

After an adjective/adverb

We can use adjective/adverb + enough to mean ‘sufficiently’.

• This bed is big enough for the four of us. 
• I think she spoke clearly enough. Everybody understood what she meant. 

In negative sentences we can use (not) adjective/adverb + enough to mean ‘less than we want’ or ‘less than necessary’.

• You aren’t old enough to enter this club.
• You aren’t going fast enough. We are going to be late.

After a verb

We can also use verb + enough.

• I didn’t study enough and I failed the exam. 
• I think you don’t sleep enough. You should sleep seven or eight hours a day. 

too, too much, too many, enough + to + infinitive

In English we often use to-infinitive with the expressions too, too much, too many, enough.

• I was too tired to go clubbing.
• She makes enough money to sustain all her family.

Be careful with these common mistakes!

Don’t use an adjective after too much

• I’m too tired to study now. (NOT: I’m too much tired.)

Don’t confuse the word too (=more than enough) with the word very.

• I think she is very beautiful. (NOT: I think she is too beautiful.)

➧ Watch the following video to help you out further:

Too much and too many on engvid.com

⏯ Now you can do some exercises to check if you fully understood!

Further online exercises