Speaking English: TOO MUCH, ENOUGH, NOT ENOUGH

Hi. Welcome again to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. Nice to see

you again, or be seen by you. Today, we're going to look at something that's

sometimes a little confusing for students: "too much", "enough", "not

enough". Now, why is this confusing? Because students don't necessarily know

at what level they want to use the words that they want to use. So, I've made

here a little graph to show your level of satisfaction, or your level of... if

you need more, if you have enough, etcetera. Doesn't make much sense, but

okay. So, here, let's say this is a level chart. Here, you have "enough";

enough money, enough happiness, enough love in your life — everything is just

right; perfect. Or "just enough" means just enough. You know, this? Okay. Here,

you have more than you need; you have too much. Here, you don't have as much

as you need; you have not enough — whatever it is. Right? So, there are two

ways we're going to be looking at this. One is to use only "too much", or as the

case may be, "too many" to talk about nouns; "not enough" to talk about nouns;

or, if you want to use different adjectives or different adverbs, where

to place them. So, for example, "not" adjective "enough"; "not" adverb

"enough". So, "not happy enough", "not fast enough". Let's say we're driving

the car — the policeman pulls me over and he says: "Do you know how fast you

were driving?" I go: "Too fast?" He goes: "No. Not fast enough. This is a 60

zone; you were doing 40. I'm giving you a ticket." And I was like: "Well, when

does that happen ever?" Right? It doesn't. So, I drive too fast — that's

my problem. Now, one thing I want you to be very, very careful about: Whenever

you use "too" — "too much", "too many" — or with any other adjective — "too

fast", for example — this is always a negative. Whenever you use "too" plus

something to talk about level — it's always a bad thing. Okay? If it weren't

"too much", then it would be good. If it were enough, it's good. If it's not

enough, also bad. But this is... people say... like, for example, a girl will

say to me: "Oh, I love you too much." And I was like: "Oh, that's not good.

That's a little scary, actually. I don't want you to love me too much. I want you

to love me enough." Okay? Maybe what she meant was: "I love you so much". "So

much" — that's a good thing; it means a lot of love. "Too much" means more than

I want. Okay? So, be very careful about that. Let's look at some examples of how

to use: "too much", "too many", "not enough", etcetera. Okay?

Okay. So, now, let's look at a couple more examples. So, let me say again that

when you have something that's "too much" or "too many" for nouns, or "too"

adjective, or "not enough" — these are usually bad situations. Right? If you

"don't have enough", it means you want more or you need more. If you "have too

much" means more than you want; more than you need. So, remember: These are

used to make a complaint; to complain about something; something is not good.

In the summer, we complain: "Oh, it's too hot." In the winter, we complain:

"Oh, it's not hot enough." We want more heat. Right? So, "not" adjective

"enough"; "too" adjective — but always negative. Let's look about money; we're

talking about money. So, three friends — A, B, and C; that's their names —

they're going out; they're maybe going to go see a movie, go to a restaurant, a

bar, or whatever. Person A says: "I don't have enough." We're talking about

money. Right? I could put it here, but it's understood: -"I don't have enough."

-"Oh", person B says: "I have enough for me", means only for me; I don't have

enough for you, too. Right? So... by the way, here's the negative. Don't forget

the "not", "not enough". Okay? "I have enough for me" means I have good amount,

but not to give you. Person C says: "I have too much. I'll give you some." So,

person C has a lot of money; he can give person A some money. But is this okay to

say: "I have too much money"? Is there ever too much money? No. You can always

use more money. You don't want to say this in a negative way, so you want to

say: "I have more than enough". "More than enough" could be a good thing. "Too

much" is a bad thing. Now, just a quick, little note here: Notice "much" — I'm

using "much" — not "many", because I'm talking about money. Money —

uncountable; we use "much". If you're not sure about countable/uncountable

nouns, please go to www.engvid.com. We have some lessons there that explain the

difference about countable/uncountable, "much", "many". You can find out more

there. So, instead, person C should say: "I have more than enough. I can give you

some." Good. "I have too much" — he's complaining. Who complains about having

money? Nobody. Everybody wants more money; the world is a very expensive

place to live. So, "too much"; "not enough". If you have any questions, if

you want to try understanding this a little bit better — again, go to

www.engvid.com. There's a quiz; you can check these out, see if you understand

it well, ask some questions. And I'll see you again here very soon. Thanks.