I was not a good enough rider.
It seemed that Henry had not been careful enough.
Enough can be followed by the preposition for to indicate a person involved, or by a to-infinitive to indicate a related action.
A girl from the factory wasn’t good enough for him.
If you find that the white wine is not cold enough for you, ask for some ice to be put in it.
The children are old enough to travel to school on their own.
None of the fruit was ripe enough to eat.
Note that when enough is used after an adjective, you can use just in front of the adjective to show that someone or something has enough of the quality described by the adjective, but no more than that.
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.
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.
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: