Skip to main content

enough

Adjective/adverb + enough​

Enough usually follows adjectives and adverbs.

  • Is it warm enough for you? (not … enough warm …)
  • You’re not driving fast enough.

enough + noun​

Enough can be used before a noun as a determiner (see here).

  • Have you got enough milk?
  • There aren’t enough glasses.

Enough is occasionally used after a noun, but this is rare in modern English except in a few expressions.

  • If only we had time enough …
  • I was fool enough to believe him.

Before another determiner (article, possessive, etc) or a pronoun, we use enough of. Compare:

  • I don’t know enough Spanish to read this. (not … enough of Spanish …)
  • I don’t understand enough of the words in the notice.

Position with adjective + noun​

When enough modifies an adjective and noun together, it comes before the adjective. Compare:

  • We haven’t got enough big nails. (= We need more big nails – enough modifies big nails.)
  • We haven’t got big enough nails. (= We need bigger nails – enough modifies big.)

enough + infinitive; structure with for​

We can use an infinitive structure after enough.

  • She’s old enough to do what she wants.
  • I haven’t got enough money to buy a car.

Infinitives can be introduced by for + noun/pronoun.

  • It’s late enough for the staff to stop work.
  • There was just enough light for us to see what we were doing.

It’s small enough to put in your pocket, etc​

The subject of the sentence can be the object of the following infinitive. (For more about this structure, (see here).) Object pronouns are not normally used after the infinitive in this case.

  • ***The radio’*s small enough to put in your pocket. (not … to put it in your pocket.)
  • Those tomatoes aren’t ripe enough to eat. (not … to eat them.)

However, object pronouns are possible in structures with for.

  • The radio was small enough for me to put (it) in my pocket.
  • Those tomatoes aren’t ripe enough for the children to eat (them).
note

For other examples of for + object + infinitive, (see here).

For similar structures with too and too much/many, (see here).

the = enough; leaving out enough​

The article the can be used to mean ‘enough’.

  • I hardly had the strength to take my clothes off.
  • I didn’t quite have the money to pay for a meal.

Time and room are often used to mean ‘enough time’ and ‘enough room’.

  • Do you have time to look at this draft?
  • There isn’t room for everybody to sit down.