Too Much/Many/Little/Few and Enough — Excess, Shortage and Sufficiency
Practice too much/too many (excess), too little/too few (shortage) and enough (sufficiency) — including 'enough' word order and the rule that 'too much' never precedes an adjective. 11 exercises.
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There's ___ noise in this café — I can't concentrate.
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too much
'Noise' is uncountable, so use 'too much' for an excess.
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There are ___ tourists here in summer; the streets are packed.
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too many
'Tourists' is countable, so use 'too many' for an excess.
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Have we got ___ chairs for everyone?
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enough
Before a plain noun, use 'enough' — never 'enough of' without a determiner.
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This room isn't ___ for a party of thirty.
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big enough
'Enough' goes after an adjective — 'big enough'.
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I've made ___ spelling mistakes — nearly every word is wrong.
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too many
'Mistakes' is countable, so use 'too many'.
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I don't have ___ money to buy a car right now.
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enough
Before a plain noun, use 'enough money' — not 'enough of money'.
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This jacket is ___ expensive for me to buy.
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too
Before an adjective, use 'too' alone — never 'too much expensive'.
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She isn't ___ to watch a 15-rated film.
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old enough
'Enough' goes after the adjective — 'old enough'.
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We didn't have ___ chairs for all the guests.
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enough
Before a plain noun, use 'enough' — 'enough chairs', not 'enough of chairs'.
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There are ___ doctors in rural areas, so patients wait for hours.
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too few
'Doctors' is countable, so 'not enough' is 'too few'.
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The plant died because it got ___ water.
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too little
'Water' is uncountable, so 'not enough' is 'too little'.
Too Much, Too Many, Too Little, Too Few and Enough: Judging Whether an Amount Is Right
Four 'too' + quantifier combinations and the word 'enough' let speakers evaluate whether an amount is excessive, insufficient, or exactly right, and all of them are governed by noun countability. Too much (uncountable) and too many (countable) both mean 'more than is wanted': too much noise, too many tourists. Too little (uncountable) and too few (countable) both mean 'not enough': too little water, too few doctors. Enough sits between these two extremes and describes a sufficient amount, but its position depends on what it modifies: before a noun it acts as a determiner ('enough chairs'); after an adjective it acts as an adverb ('big enough'). A separate rule governs 'too' before an adjective: only the bare word 'too' is allowed there — 'too much' and 'too many' modify nouns, never adjectives.
Too Much and Too Many: Excess
There are too many tourists here in summer; the streets are packed. (tourists is countable)
I've made too many spelling mistakes — nearly every word is wrong. (mistakes is countable)
Too Little and Too Few: Shortage
The plant died because it got too little water. (water is uncountable)
Too Before an Adjective: Never Too Much
Before an adjective, English uses the bare word 'too' — never 'too much' or 'too many', even though those forms are correct before nouns. This is a purely structural rule with no exceptions: 'too much expensive' is ungrammatical, regardless of how emphatic the speaker wants to sound. The test is simple — check what directly follows 'too'. If it is a noun, 'too much/too many' is available, subject to countability; if it is an adjective, only 'too' is possible. This distinction is one of the most consistently tested points in the too/enough system, because the error is easy to produce but immediately noticeable to a native reader.
Enough: Before a Noun, After an Adjective
This room isn't big enough for a party of thirty. (after an adjective)
She isn't old enough to watch a 15-rated film. (after an adjective)
I don't have enough money to buy a car right now. (✓ not 'enough of money')
Common Mistakes
✗ This room isn't enough big for a party. → ✓ This room isn't big enough for a party. ('enough' comes after the adjective)
✗ I don't have enough of money. → ✓ I don't have enough money. (no 'of' before a plain noun)
✗ This jacket is too much expensive. → ✓ This jacket is too expensive. ('too much' cannot precede an adjective)
✗ There are too much tourists here. → ✓ There are too many tourists here. (tourists is countable)
Last updated: · Satori Editorial