So, such, enough, too

Finn Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Finn.

Rob Sorry I’m so late, Finn.

Finn Oh Rob… OK.

Rob There was such a long queue at the coffee machine.

Finn Ah so late … such a long queue - great examples for today’s topic, Rob.

Rob Yes. Thank you very much. Yes, we’re talking about so, such, too and enough .

Finn When Rob said he was so late, he meant he was very late. Now Helen has some more examples using so .

Helen This coffee is so good. Finn speaks English so well.

Finn So it’s so before an adjective - This coffee is so good … so strong … so hot …

Rob Sounds good. Or before an adverb : He speaks English so well … so fluently … so fast .

Finn And we use such with a noun. Rob said there was such a long queue , meaning the queue was very long. Here are more examples.

Helen My holiday was such fun! My holiday was such a disaster!

Rob We say such fun without the indefinite article a because fun is uncountable.

Finn But it’s such a disaster with the article because disaster is countable.

Rob Now we often use such with an adjective and a noun together. Listen to this.

Helen Adele has such an amazing voice. We had such good weather in Greece.

Rob So it’s such good weather … such an amazing voice. Remember: with countable nouns put the a or an after ‘such’ not before.

Finn Nowadays, you sometimes hear people use so with a noun or verb for emphasis. Like this.

Helen That dress is so last year. I’m so going to hug her when I see her.

Finn So if you say ‘so last year’ it means really not fashionable any more. So going to hug her means really going to give her a really good hug.

Rob We can use so and such with a that clause to describe cause and effect. Like this.

Helen It was so hot that they had to go indoors. It was such a hot day that they had to stay indoors.

Finn And we can leave that out, so we could say: It was so hot they had to go indoors .

Rob We also use so with many or much and a noun to describe a lot of something. It’s so much with uncountable nouns and so many with countable nouns .

Helen What a great party! I had so much fun . We visited so many places .

Finn So that’s so and such . Now for too and enough .

Rob Yes. Now we use enough with an adjective or adverb to say something is or isn’t the right degree. So, if I ask Finn: Are you warm enough, Finn?

Finn I am, thanks.

Rob I’m asking if it’s the right temperature for you.

Finn Notice enough comes after the adjective or adverb. We can also use enough after a verb.

Helen He doesn’t sleep enough . He’s always tired.

Rob When we use enough with a noun, it goes before the noun. We have enough food, enough time .

Finn And sentences with enough are sometimes followed by to and a verb.

Helen She’s definitely smart enough to become director.

Finn You know Rob, I think that’s enough about enough!

Rob Indeed. Now to say there’s more than necessary, we use too with an adjective or adverb. So we could say this office is too crowded, too noisy, too busy .

Finn And I could say Rob that you’re working too hard .

Rob Thank you very much.

Finn You work very hard.

Rob We can use too much or too many with a noun to say we have more than we need.

Helen Ugh! You’ve put too much sugar in my tea! I ate too many biscuits .

IDENT 6 Minute Grammar from BBC Learning English.

Finn And I think we have just enough time for a quiz. OK so which is correct, a or b? Are you ready Rob?

Rob I am.

Finn OK. Number one. a) That’s a so cute dog! b) That’s such a cute dog.

Rob Well it’s b) because it’s such with an adjective and noun and the indefinite article comes after not before.

Finn That’s correct. Number 2. a) Is there money enough? Or b) Is there enough money?

Rob Well, that’s b) again because enough goes before a noun.

Finn Correct. And finally, number 3. a) I can’t afford it. It’s too expensive. Or b) I can’t afford it. It’s so expensive.

Rob You’re trying to trick me. Both are correct.

Finn Of course. That’s right. Well done if you got them all right at home. And there’s lots more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar.

Both Bye.