ESL Blog: Too much, too many; enough with noun; enough with adjective; so and very

Dear students,

Yesterday we spent a lot of time to learn about Too Much, Too many, Adjective + Enough and Enough + Noun. Today I'd like you to practice some more.

Irena

Please, read these and pay attention to the bold words and phrases. Here are some examples of what we learned yesterday.

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Have you ever eaten too much food?

What age is old enough to serve in the military?

What age is old enough to buy cigarettes and alcohol?

Is the Korean government’s age limits too low or too high?

Have you ever felt like you were not smart enough to do something?

Have you ever felt like you were too smart to do something?

How much is too much money? Is it possible to have too much money?

Do you think designer brand name products are too expensive? (Gucci, Armani, etc.)

How about brand name products, are they too expensive? (Samsung, Sony, etc.)

Do you think that your country’s big corporations are too big, big enough, or not big enough?

Have you ever been too afraid to do something?

Do you get enough exercise?

Do you exercise enough?

Many people think that they never have enough stuff.

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So, if you remember, we use:

too + adjective (too slow, too fast, too tall, too short)
too + adverb (too bad)

too much + noun (too much money, too much time)
too many + noun (too many friends, too many problems)

adjective + enough (old enough, rich enough, smart enough)
adverb + enough (well enough, fast enough, hard enough)

enough + noun (enough time, enough money, enough friends)

Here is an additional explanation:

1. We use too to mean more (less) than is good, sufficient, normal or more (less) than necessary. IT shows that there is a problem.

     o It's too late to stop him.

     o Jerry was too young to watch the movie.

     o There are too many people on this train, there's nowhere to sit.

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

     o You've eaten too many of those cakes.

2. We use enough in positive sentences to mean sufficient, normal or good.

     o Your clothes are big enough to fit me.

     o You've done enough work. You can stop now.

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

3. We use enough in negative sentences to mean less than sufficient or less than necessary.

     o You're not working fast enough, you won't finish on time.

     o Sorry, I haven't got enough food for everyone.

Here is some additional information:

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

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

2. We can replace enough with the before a noun.

     o I don't have enough money to go on holiday.
     o I don't have the money to go on holiday.

     o  His company doesn't have enough resources to do the job.
     o His company doesn't have the resources to do the job.

Now, let's talk about too and very a little bit.

First, watch this video, please and try to understand the difference between very and too.

If you still don't understand, here is another video for you.

Look at the two sentences. How are they different?

A: It is very hot.
B: It is too hot.

A is a simple statement- It's HOT!

B has a negative feeling and shows some difficulty. Maybe because it is so hot, I feel terrible. Or because it is so hot, no one is happy. Too shows that there is a problem.

Here are some more...

C: Bob is very tall.
D: Bob is too tall.

C is a simple statement. Wow! Bob is a tall boy. This is good because he can play basketball.

D has a negative feeling. Perhaps because Bob is tall, he hits his head on the ceiling. Or maybe he is so tall, he can't get a date or has no friends.

So remember, using too shows that there is a problem with the situation.

Now check Your understanding.

Answers:

1 - very
2 - too
3 - too
4 - very
5 - too

Now let's talk about so. It is different from very. How can you know where to use so and where to use very? Look at the examples here and try to understand.

So is used with “that” to add extra information or show an extreme result or actions that lead to certain results. The "that" is usually optional.

Last night I was very tired.
Last night I was so tired that I almost fell asleep while driving.

This book is very interesting.
This book is so interesting that I stayed up until midnight reading it!

She plays the piano very well.
She plays the piano so well that people often ask if she’s a professional.

She spoke so quickly that I couldn't understand her.
She spoke so quickly I couldn't understand her.

He paints so well that they offered him a scholarship at an art school in Paris.
He paints so well they offered him a scholarship at an art school in Paris.

We also use so + adjective or so +adverb. So can be combined with adjectives to show extremes (a larger degree). We often use this form with an exclamation mark.

The music is so loud! I wish they would turn it down. (so + adjective)
The meal was so good! It was worth the money. (so + adjective)

She spoke so quickly! She sounded like an auctioneer. (so + adverb)
He paints so well! I am sure he is going to become a famous artist. (so + adverb)

Here is a video about the difference between so and very. Please, watch it.

I hope, you remember everything, so now, please, do some exercises:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

Exercise 7

Exercise 8

Here is a quiz for you. Try to answer the questions:

START

Please, also do this exercise:

Exercise