Collins Cobuild English Grammar (48 page)

Some of these creatures are
just large enough
to see with the naked eye.

2.151
  
Enough
is also a determiner (see paragraphs
1.223
to
1.247
).

He hasn’t had
enough
exercise.

When
enough
is a determiner, it can have a word like
just
or
almost
in front of it.

There was
just enough
space for a bed.
I have
almost enough
tokens for one book.

saying that there is not enough of something

2.152
  If you want to show that you think something you are describing is insufficient, you can use submodifying adverbs such as
inadequately
,
insufficiently
, and
unacceptably
.

…people growing up in
insufficiently supportive
families.
Their publications were
inadequately researched
.

saying that there is too much of something

2.153
  If you want to say that you think someone or something has too much of a quality, you normally use
too
in front of a qualitative adjective that is used after a linking verb.

My feet are
too big
.
It was
too hot
.
Dad thought I was
too idealistic
.

You can emphasize
too
by putting
far
in front of it. In informal English you can also use
way
.

The journey was
far too long
.
It was
far too hot
to work in the garden.
The price was
way too high
.

Too
can be followed by the preposition
for
to indicate a person involved or by a
to-
infinitive to indicate a related action.

The shoes were
too big for him
.
He was
too old for that sort of thing
.
She was
too weak to lift me
.
He was
too proud to apologize
.

Note that you do not usually use
too
with an adjective in front of a noun, although you do use
too
in front of the determiners
many
,
much
, and
few
.

There is
too much
chance of error.
Too few
people nowadays are interested in literature.
You ask
too many
questions, Sam.

BE CAREFUL

2.154
  
Too
cannot be used instead of
very
. Rather than saying
I am too happy to meet you
, you must say
I am very happy to meet you
.

2.155
  Other words that indicate too much of a quality are
excessively
,
overly
, and the prefix
over-
. These can be used, like
too
, with adjectives that come after a linking verb, but they can also be used with adjectives in front of a noun.

…
excessively high
accident rates.
…an intellectual but
over-cautious
man.
They were
overly eager
.

BE CREATIVE

2.156
  As well as adverbs of degree like
excessively
and
insufficiently
, you can use some other types of adverb in front of adjectives to modify their meaning.

…the
once elegant
palace.
…a
permanently muddy
road.
…
internationally famous
golfers.
…
naturally blonde
hair.
…
coolly elegant
furniture.
…
purposely expensive
gadgets.

Adverbs are explained in
Chapter 6
.

Saying things are different

2.157
  When you are using comparative adjectives, you may want to say that something has much more or much less of a quality than something else. You do this by adding words like
much
or
a little
.

It is a
much better
school than yours.
These creatures are
much less mobile
.
There are
far worse
dangers.
Some children are
a lot more difficult
than others.

You also use these words to say that something has much more or much less of a quality than it had before.

He had become
much more mature
.
That’s
much less important
than it was.

2.158
  Some modifying words and phrases are only used when comparative adjectives are being used after linking verbs.

You look
a lot better
.
It would be
a good deal easier
if you came to my place.
The journey back was
a great deal more unpleasant
than the outward one had been.

Here is a list of modifying words and phrases used in front of comparative adjectives after a linking verb:

a good deal

a great deal

a lot

heaps

lots

Note that
lots
and
heaps
are only used in informal spoken English.

2.159
  However, other submodifying adverbs can be used with comparative adjectives that are being used either in front of a noun or after a linking verb.

They are faced with a
much harder
problem than the rest of us.
The risk from smoking is
much greater
if you have a weak heart.
Computers can be applied to a
far wider
range of tasks.
The delay was
far longer
than they claimed.

Here is a list of submodifying adverbs used with adjectives that are used both in front of a noun and after a linking verb:

considerably

far

infinitely

much

vastly

very much

USAGE NOTE

2.160
  If you want to say that something has more of a quality than something else that already has a lot of it, you use
even
or
still
before a comparative adjective, or
still
after it.

She’s
even lazier
than me!
She was
even more possessive
than Rosamund.
I had a
still more recent
report.
The text is actually
worse still
.

Similarly, you use
even
or
still
to say that something has less of a quality than something else that has little of this quality.

This did not happen before the war, and is now
even less
likely.

You also use
even
or
still
when comparing the amount of a quality that something has at one time with the amount that it has at another.

The flight was
even faster
coming back.
They will become
richer still
.

In formal or literary English,
yet
is sometimes used in the same way as
still
.

He would have been
yet more alarmed
had she withdrawn.
The planes grow
mightier yet
.

2.161
  You can show that something has an increasing or decreasing amount of a quality by repeating comparative adjectives. For example, you can say that something is getting
bigger and bigger
,
more and more difficult
, or
less and less common
.

He’s getting
taller and taller
.
…defences that were proving
more and more effective
.