ENOUGH - English grammar lesson
This is Max.
Yes, he has a cute teddy bear
How old do you think Max is?
Max is 2 years old.
Can Max go to school at this age?
No, not really. He is only two years old.
We can say:
Max is not old enough.
Here we used an adjective + enough.
Notice how I pronounced enough.
enough
It sounds like it ends in an F.
enough
What does enough mean?
Enough can mean sufficient or sufficiently
or as much as required or needed.
But here it says not enough.
Not enough can mean less than necessary
less than sufficient
Max is not old enough
means he doesn't have the necessary age.
His age is less than sufficient
In this lesson, we're going to look at the word enough and its meanings, uses
and correct position in a sentence.
adjective + enough
As we have seen, enough appears after an adjective.
Let's see some example sentences.
The coffee is not hot enough.
Here we are saying the coffee is not sufficiently hot.
I can't hear the music. It's not loud enough.
The volume is not the sufficient level for me to be able to hear it.
He wasn't experienced enough for the job.
This means he didn't have sufficient experience for the job.
The room is large enough for all the students.
Here enough is used in a positive way.
It doesn't have NOT before it
so it means the room has the sufficient space for all of the students.
The space that is necessary.
Note: we don't say "enough hot"
or "enough loud" or "enough experienced" or "enough large"
Enough goes after the adjective
Now, you may have noticed after large enough
we have the preposition FOR plus students.
After enough we can have FOR + person or people
Let's look at some more examples of this.
adjective + enough + for + person
Before, we said the coffee is not hot enough.
We didn't mention if it is not hot enough for me for you or some other person.
To say who this refers to,
we add for + person or people
For example:
The coffee is not hot enough for me.
And another example:
Is the music loud enough for you?
Here I specify the person...
for you... for you the old man.
After enough we can also have an infinitive
which is the base form of a verb.
An infinitive has the form TO + Verb
The order is: adjective + enough + infinitive
Remember Max?
Max can't go to school because he is not old enough.
We can change the order of this and say:
Max is not old enough to go to school.
Notice how we use the infinitive TO GO after enough.
A couple more examples:
She is old enough to vote.
Yes, she has the sufficient age to be able to vote.
The phone is small enough to put in your pocket.
Yes, it has a small size
that is the sufficient amount to be able to put it in your pocket.
And if you want, you can combine FOR + person with an infinitive
The correct word order is
adjective + enough + for + person + infinitive
Let's look at some example sentences.
The car is cheap enough for us to buy.
Yes, we have a sufficient amount of money to be able to buy the car.
It was easy enough for them to complete.
They didn't have any problems to complete it because it was easy for them.
The rope isn't strong enough for us to use.
Yes, it doesn't have the sufficient strength for us to be able to use it.
The room isn't quiet enough for me to study.
Exactly, I like to study in total silence.
verb + enough
We can use enough after a verb
We hadn't trained enough and lost the game.
We hadn't trained a sufficient amount so as a consequence, we lost the game.
I think you have done enough.
Yes, you have done a sufficient amount.
He doesn't study enough.
Yes, he should study more.
You look too thin. You don't eat enough.
Exactly, you don't eat a sufficient amount of food.
Our last sentence was:
You don't eat enough.
This consists of a verb (eat) + enough.
This means you don't eat a sufficient amount or an adequate amount.
Sometimes there is an adverb between the verb and enough.
Adverb + enough
For example: You don't eat healthily enough.
Remember: an adverb gives us more information about the verb.
It says how or in what way.
In this last sentence it refers to... in a healthy way.
Some more examples:
I didn't leave early enough and I arrived late.
They didn't react quickly enough
and they lost the opportunity.
Did you notice how there was a verb before the adverb
to give the order: verb + adverb + enough
adverb + enough + infinitive
Again, sometimes we use an infinitive after enough.
He isn't running fast enough to win the race.
The infinitive is TO WIN.
I didn't go early enough to buy a ticket.
You're not working hard enough to get a pay rise.
enough + noun
After enough we can use a noun
enough + noun
This noun can be a plural countable noun
or an uncountable noun.
Here enough means the correct number or amount.
As many or as much as someone needs or wants.
Is there enough room in the car for me?
In a way this means:
Is there a sufficient amount of room or space for me?
He has enough money to buy a new car.
Yes, he has been saving for years and now he has enough money
or the sufficient amount of money to buy one.
We do not have enough cups for everyone.
You can see the last sentence is negative and uses not enough
which means it is less than what is needed it
it is an insufficient amount.
This means we don't have as many cups as we need,
we don't have the sufficient amount.
enough + noun + infinitive
After enough + noun, we can also have an infinitive.
There isn't enough paint to finish the wall.
The infinitive here is TO FINISH.
Do we have enough time to have lunch?
I don't have enough money to buy a laptop.
Enough as a pronoun
Enough can be used as a pronoun to replace enough + noun
Look at this dialogue:
Have you got enough money?
and the other person says
No, I don't have enough.
Here the pronoun enough is used instead of enough money
and we use this pronoun to avoid repetition.
Another example:
Would you like some more cake?
No thanks, I have had enough.
Here the pronoun enough means enough cake.
We don't repeat cake to avoid sounding repetitive.
It is obvious we're talking about cake.
Another example:
I bought some pizza.
and the other person says...
Do we have enough for everyone?
Here enough refers to enough pizza.
Enough pizza for everyone
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