Trickypointsof English ...
Explainingthe everyday words and grammar points in English that cancause most confusion
Meaningsand usage
Enough isa word that signifies asufficient quantity or a sufficient degree.It can be used either as an adjective,or as a pronoun, or as anadverb..
The different uses ofenough
| Index: | Enough as an adjective | Enoughas a pronoun | Enoughas an adverb |
The essential rules
Enoughcanbe....
- Either- A quantifying adjectiveplaced before a noun
- Or- An adverb placed afterthe adjective it qualifies
- Or- A pronoun standing onits own
Enough as an adjective.
Used as a quantifier adjective,enoughis not really a problem word. However it can only be used as anattributive adjective (onethat stands before the noun it qualifies);it cannot be used as a predicativeadjective (after the verb to be orsimilar verbs). When enoughstands alone following the verb tobe, or other verbs, it is being used asa pronoun. See below.
Enoughcan qualify countnouns in the plural, or non count nouns (which are bydefinition in thesingular). Enoughcannot normally be used to qualify a count noun inthe singular.
Gradation of enough
The word enough,whether as adjective or as apronoun, or as an adverb, can be qualified by certain adverbsofdegree, in particular quiteor hardly,and by certain other adverbs.
Examples:
Haveyou got enough money for the train ticket?
I think we have enough chairs for everyone to sit on.
With enough helpers, we'll be able finish this by this evening.
There was enough food to feed an army.
We have quite enough workto keep us busy until midnight !
We have more than enoughwork to keep us busy all day !
There's hardly enough roomfor everyone in this meeting.
Enough as a pronoun
When enoughstands on its own – for example when it is used predicativelyafter the verb to be– it functions as an indefinite pronoun.It means enough thingsor enough people
Examples:
Ithink you've said enough.
I think you've said quite enough.
Enough is enough.
Enough were against the project for it to be rejected.
Do you want some more ice-cream, or have you had enough ?
Enough as an adverb
This is where learners of English need to take care. Enoughis an adverb of degreethat canqualifyadjectivesor other adverbs, normally inpredicative position (aftertobe, etc;) ; it cannotqualify verbs. And unlike almost allother adverbs that qualify adjectives or adverbs, enough followsthe word that it qualifies; it never precedes it.
When enoughin this case is modified by hardlyor by quite,this adverb of degree stands beforethe adjective or adverb,
i.e. {quite +adjective/adverb + enough}or {hardly +adjective/adverb + enough}.
Examples:
Qualifying apredicative adjective
Theseresults are just not good enough !
Is the room warm enough for you, Madam ?
Yes, it's quitewarm enough / No it's hardlywarmenough !
My jeans don't seem big enough any more... They must have shrunk !
The man was old enough to be my grandfather.
Qualifying an attributiveadjective (Enoughis used with an attributive adjectivein some common expressions, andalso in colloquial spoken English,but not too commonly in othersituations)
Thatwas a good enough answer(Thisis acommon expression)
That was a quitegood enough answer. (unusual butacceptable)
You'll get there on time if you take a fast enoughtrain.(colloquial).
There was a serious enough incident forthe police to be called. (Possible,but improbable)
Alternatives:The incident was seriousenough for thepolice to be called.
orThere was a sufficiently serious incident for the police to be called.
Qualifyingan adverb
Luckilyenough we were able to get a ticket for the show..
If you work quickly enough,you'll be able to make two of them bylunchtime.
Funnily enough, I heardthe same story.
The children were all walking happilyenough until it started to rain.
The essential rule is to remember not to confuse the usage of enough as an adjective,precedeing a noun, with enoughas an adverbwhich follows an adjective or another adverb.
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