Blog about English
Expressing sufficiency and excess.
Enough expresses sufficiency, while too expresses excess.
Both are used to describe whether an amount, degree or quantity is appropriate.
We have enough money to pay the rent.
У нас достаточно денег, чтобы заплатить за аренду.
"Enough" expresses sufficient quantity.
The coffee is too hot to drink.
Кофе слишком горячий, чтобы его пить.
"Too" indicates that the temperature is beyond a suitable limit.
There are enough chairs for everyone.
Стульев достаточно для всех.
"Enough" indicates sufficient quantity.
This box is too heavy to carry.
Эта коробка слишком тяжелая, чтобы ее нести.
"Too" indicates an excessive degree that creates a problem.
She is old enough to drive.
Она достаточно взрослая, чтобы водить машину.
"Enough" indicates that the required age or maturity has been reached.
The room is too small for six people.
Комната слишком маленькая для шести человек.
"Too" indicates that the room does not provide sufficient space.
We arrived early enough to get good seats.
Мы приехали достаточно рано, чтобы занять хорошие места.
"Enough" indicates that the degree of earliness was sufficient.
The music is too loud.
Музыка слишком громкая.
"Too" means the volume is higher than is desirable or acceptable.
Enough is used before both countable and uncountable nouns.
Examples include enough money, enough chairs and enough information.
We have enough money for dinner.
У нас достаточно денег на ужин.
"Enough" comes before the uncountable noun "money".
There are enough seats for everyone.
Мест достаточно для всех.
"Enough" comes before the plural countable noun "seats".
Do we have enough food for the party?
У нас достаточно еды для вечеринки?
"Enough" modifies the uncountable noun "food".
I don't have enough time to finish this today.
У меня недостаточно времени, чтобы закончить это сегодня.
"Enough" modifies the uncountable noun "time".
We need enough volunteers for the event.
Нам нужно достаточно добровольцев для мероприятия.
"Enough" modifies the plural countable noun "volunteers".
Is there enough information in the report?
В отчете достаточно информации?
"Enough" modifies the uncountable noun "information".
We bought enough supplies for the trip.
Мы купили достаточно припасов для поездки.
"Enough" modifies the plural countable noun "supplies".
There wasn't enough gas in the tank.
В баке было недостаточно бензина.
"Enough" can modify an uncountable substance such as "gas".
Enough follows adjectives and adverbs.
Examples include old enough, quickly enough and strong enough.
The water is warm enough to swim in.
Вода достаточно теплая, чтобы в ней плавать.
"Enough" follows the adjective "warm".
He is strong enough to lift the box.
Он достаточно сильный, чтобы поднять коробку.
"Enough" follows the adjective "strong".
She is experienced enough for the job.
У нее достаточно опыта для этой работы.
"Enough" follows the adjective "experienced".
Are you warm enough?
Тебе достаточно тепло?
"Enough" follows the adjective "warm".
He ran quickly enough to catch the bus.
Он бежал достаточно быстро, чтобы успеть на автобус.
"Enough" follows the adverb "quickly".
She spoke clearly enough for everyone to understand.
Она говорила достаточно ясно, чтобы все поняли.
"Enough" follows the adverb "clearly".
The screen is large enough for the whole presentation.
Экран достаточно большой для всей презентации.
"Enough" follows the adjective "large".
You didn't explain it slowly enough.
Ты объяснил это недостаточно медленно.
"Enough" follows the adverb "slowly".
Too comes before adjectives and adverbs to express excess.
Examples include too expensive, too slowly and too difficult.
This jacket is too expensive.
Эта куртка слишком дорогая.
"Too" comes before the adjective "expensive".
The soup is too hot.
Суп слишком горячий.
"Too" indicates an excessive temperature.
The instructions are too difficult for me.
Инструкции для меня слишком сложные.
"Too" comes before the adjective "difficult".
He drives too fast.
Он ездит слишком быстро.
"Too" comes before the adverb "fast".
She spoke too quietly for me to hear her.
Она говорила слишком тихо, чтобы я ее слышал.
"Too" modifies the adverb "quietly".
The bed is too small for two people.
Кровать слишком маленькая для двух человек.
"Too" indicates that the size is beyond the suitable limit.
You're working too slowly.
Ты работаешь слишком медленно.
"Too" modifies the adverb "slowly".
The meeting started too late.
Собрание началось слишком поздно.
"Too" modifies the adverb "late".
Too much is used with uncountable nouns, while too many is used with plural countable nouns.
Examples include too much traffic and too many mistakes.
There is too much traffic today.
Сегодня слишком много машин на дорогах.
"Too much" is used with the uncountable noun "traffic".
I put too much salt in the soup.
Я положил в суп слишком много соли.
"Too much" modifies the uncountable noun "salt".
We have too much work this week.
На этой неделе у нас слишком много работы.
"Too much" is used with the uncountable noun "work".
There are too many cars on this street.
На этой улице слишком много машин.
"Too many" is used with the plural countable noun "cars".
She made too many mistakes on the test.
Она сделала слишком много ошибок в тесте.
"Too many" modifies the plural countable noun "mistakes".
There are too many people in the room.
В комнате слишком много людей.
"Too many" is used with plural countable "people".
I spend too much money on delivery.
Я трачу слишком много денег на доставку.
"Too much" modifies the uncountable noun "money".
We ordered too many pizzas for the group.
Мы заказали слишком много пицц для этой группы.
"Too many" modifies the plural countable noun "pizzas".
Enough is often followed by an infinitive to express ability or suitability.
Examples include old enough to drive and enough time to finish.
She is old enough to drive.
Она достаточно взрослая, чтобы водить машину.
"Enough" is followed by the infinitive "to drive".
We have enough time to finish the project.
У нас достаточно времени, чтобы закончить проект.
"Enough time" is followed by the infinitive "to finish".
The box is light enough to carry.
Коробка достаточно легкая, чтобы ее нести.
"Enough" follows the adjective "light" and introduces an infinitive.
He is experienced enough to lead the team.
У него достаточно опыта, чтобы руководить командой.
"Enough" expresses sufficient ability or suitability.
Do we have enough chairs to seat everyone?
У нас достаточно стульев, чтобы рассадить всех?
"Enough chairs" is followed by the infinitive of purpose or result.
She spoke loudly enough to be heard from the back.
Она говорила достаточно громко, чтобы ее было слышно сзади.
"Enough" follows the adverb "loudly" and is followed by an infinitive.
The room is large enough to hold fifty people.
Комната достаточно большая, чтобы вместить пятьдесят человек.
"Large enough" expresses sufficient size.
He saved enough money to buy a used car.
Он накопил достаточно денег, чтобы купить подержанную машину.
"Enough money" expresses sufficient quantity for the following action.
Too is commonly followed by an infinitive to express an undesirable result.
Examples include too tired to work and too heavy to lift.
I am too tired to work tonight.
Я слишком устал, чтобы работать сегодня вечером.
"Too" indicates an excessive degree that prevents the action.
The box is too heavy to lift alone.
Коробка слишком тяжелая, чтобы поднять ее одному.
"Too heavy" is followed by an infinitive expressing the resulting problem.
The water is too cold to swim in.
Вода слишком холодная, чтобы в ней плавать.
"Too cold" indicates that the temperature prevents the activity.
She is too busy to answer the phone.
Она слишком занята, чтобы ответить на телефонный звонок.
"Too busy" expresses an excessive degree that prevents the action.
The coffee is too hot to drink right now.
Кофе сейчас слишком горячий, чтобы его пить.
"Too hot" is followed by the infinitive "to drink".
The instructions are too complicated to follow.
Инструкции слишком сложные, чтобы им следовать.
"Too complicated" indicates an excessive degree of difficulty.
He was driving too fast to stop in time.
Он ехал слишком быстро, чтобы вовремя остановиться.
"Too fast" describes an excessive degree that affected the result.
The apartment is too expensive for us to rent.
Квартира слишком дорогая для нас, чтобы ее арендовать.
"Too expensive" indicates that the price exceeds what is acceptable or possible.
Enough indicates that a requirement is met, while too indicates that a limit has been exceeded.
Compare warm enough with too warm.
The water is warm enough to swim in.
Вода достаточно теплая, чтобы в ней плавать.
"Warm enough" means the required level has been reached.
The water is too warm to be comfortable.
Вода слишком теплая, чтобы было комфортно.
"Too warm" means the temperature has exceeded a desirable limit.
She is strong enough to carry the box.
Она достаточно сильная, чтобы нести коробку.
"Strong enough" means that her strength is sufficient.
The box is too heavy for her to carry.
Коробка слишком тяжелая, чтобы она могла ее нести.
"Too heavy" means the weight exceeds what she can manage.
We arrived early enough to get a table.
Мы приехали достаточно рано, чтобы получить столик.
"Early enough" indicates sufficient earliness.
We arrived too late to get a table.
Мы приехали слишком поздно, чтобы получить столик.
"Too late" means the required limit was missed.
The room is large enough for a family of four.
Комната достаточно большая для семьи из четырех человек.
"Enough" expresses adequacy.
The room is too small for a family of four.
Комната слишком маленькая для семьи из четырех человек.
"Too" expresses inadequacy caused by excess in the opposite direction.
English has several expressions that strengthen or modify the meaning of enough.
Examples include quite enough, more than enough and just enough.
We have quite enough food for everyone.
У нас вполне достаточно еды для всех.
"Quite enough" means sufficient to a satisfactory degree.
You have more than enough time to finish.
У тебя более чем достаточно времени, чтобы закончить.
"More than enough" emphasizes that the quantity is greater than necessary.
We have just enough money to pay the bill.
У нас ровно достаточно денег, чтобы заплатить по счету.
"Just enough" means exactly sufficient, with little or no extra.
There is quite enough room for another chair.
Места вполне достаточно еще для одного стула.
"Quite enough" indicates that the amount is comfortably sufficient.
She is more than old enough to make her own decision.
Она более чем достаточно взрослая, чтобы принять собственное решение.
"More than enough" strengthens the idea that the requirement is clearly met.
We have just enough chairs for everyone.
У нас ровно столько стульев, сколько нужно для всех.
"Just enough" means there are no extra chairs.
The explanation was quite enough for a beginner.
Объяснения было вполне достаточно для начинающего.
"Quite enough" indicates satisfactory sufficiency.
They have more than enough experience for the job.
У них более чем достаточно опыта для этой работы.
"More than enough" shows that the requirement is comfortably exceeded.
Enough and too are used in both spoken and written English.
Formal writing may prefer more precise alternatives depending on the context.
We have enough data to make a decision.
У нас достаточно данных, чтобы принять решение.
"Enough" is neutral and appropriate in both spoken and written English.
The sample size was sufficient to support the conclusion.
Размер выборки был достаточным для подтверждения вывода.
"Sufficient" is a more formal alternative to "enough" in academic writing.
The sample was not large enough to produce reliable results.
Выборка была недостаточно большой, чтобы получить надежные результаты.
"Large enough" is natural in both formal and neutral English.
The temperature was too high for the equipment to operate safely.
Температура была слишком высокой, чтобы оборудование могло безопасно работать.
"Too high" is neutral and precise.
The available evidence was sufficient for further analysis.
Имеющихся доказательств было достаточно для дальнейшего анализа.
"Sufficient" is especially natural in professional and academic prose.
There was not enough evidence to support the claim.
Было недостаточно доказательств, чтобы подтвердить это утверждение.
"Not enough" is common and perfectly appropriate in formal writing too.
The proposed budget is sufficient to cover the expected expenses.
Предложенного бюджета достаточно для покрытия ожидаемых расходов.
"Sufficient" gives the sentence a formal professional tone.
The room was too small to accommodate the entire group.
Комната была слишком маленькой, чтобы вместить всю группу.
"Too small" is neutral and natural in formal as well as everyday English.
Enough and too appear in many fixed expressions and idioms.
Examples include enough is enough and all too often.
Enough is enough. We need to leave.
С меня достаточно. Нам нужно уходить.
"Enough is enough" is a fixed expression meaning that a situation has gone too far.
He is all too familiar with the problem.
Он слишком хорошо знаком с этой проблемой.
"All too" is a fixed emphatic expression often introducing an undesirable degree.
This happens all too often.
Это происходит слишком часто.
"All too often" is a fixed expression meaning excessively often.
You can have too much of a good thing.
Даже хорошего может быть слишком много.
"Too much of a good thing" is a common expression about excess becoming undesirable.
That is more than enough for one day.
На сегодня этого более чем достаточно.
"More than enough" is often used to indicate that no additional amount is needed.
I've had enough of this argument.
С меня хватит этого спора.
"Have had enough of" is a common expression showing that the speaker wants something to stop.
That is enough to make anyone nervous.
Этого достаточно, чтобы заставить любого нервничать.
"Enough to..." expresses a sufficient degree to produce a result.
It was only too clear that something had gone wrong.
Было слишком очевидно, что что-то пошло не так.
"Only too clear" is a fixed emphatic expression, often with an undesirable implication.
Pay attention to the position and meaning of enough and too.
Common mistakes include placing enough before adjectives, confusing too with very and using too much with countable nouns or too many with uncountable nouns.
She is old enough to drive.
Она достаточно взрослая, чтобы водить машину.
"Enough" follows the adjective "old", not precedes it.
We have enough money for the trip.
У нас достаточно денег на поездку.
"Enough" comes before the noun "money".
The car is too expensive for me.
Машина для меня слишком дорогая.
"Too" expresses excessive degree; it is not simply a synonym of "very".
There is too much traffic on the highway.
На шоссе слишком много машин.
"Too much" is used with the uncountable noun "traffic".
There are too many cars on the highway.
На шоссе слишком много машин.
"Too many" is used with the plural countable noun "cars".
The box is light enough to carry.
Коробка достаточно легкая, чтобы ее нести.
"Enough" follows the adjective "light".
I was too tired to go out.
Я был слишком уставшим, чтобы куда-то идти.
"Too" is followed by an adjective, and the infinitive explains the resulting limitation.
We have enough chairs for everyone.
У нас достаточно стульев для всех.
"Enough" is used before the plural countable noun "chairs".