Using 'enough'

Look at these examples to see how enough is used.

She's not old enough to walk yet.
We are not acting fast enough to stop climate change.
I don't read enough.
Is there enough coffee for everyone?
We've had enough of their lies.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

'enough': Grammar test 1

Read the explanation to learn more.

Grammar explanation

enough means 'as much as necessary'. It can be used with an adjective, an adverb, a verb or a noun. It can also act as a pronoun.

With adjectives and adverbs

enough comes after adjectives and adverbs.

I'm not tall enough to reach the top shelf.
Your marks are good enough to study engineering at university.
I couldn't write quickly enough and I ran out of time.
I've helped at conferences often enough to know what can go wrong.

With verbs

enough comes after verbs.

I make sure I drink enough during the day.
I don't read enough but I'm going to start downloading books to my phone. 

With nouns

enough comes before nouns.

There isn't enough bread to make sandwiches.
Have you got enough money?

As a pronoun

enough can also be used without a noun. 

I'll get some more chairs. There aren't enough.
A: Do you want more coffee? B: No, I've had enough, thanks.

We know what the noun is because of the context.

With an adjective and a noun

When enough is used with an adjective and a noun, two positions are possible but the meaning changes.

We haven't got big enough envelopes. 
We haven't got enough big envelopes.

When enough is after the adjective (big enough envelopes), it describes the adjective – the envelopes are too small. When enough is before the adjective (enough big envelopes), it describes the noun phrase – we have some big envelopes, but we need more.

enough of

We normally only use enough of when it is followed by a determiner or a pronoun (a/an/the, this/that, my/your/his, you/them, etc.).

There isn't enough of that bread to make sandwiches for everyone.
I've seen enough of his work to be able to recommend him.
There's enough of us to make a difference.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2

'enough': Grammar test 2