Where does enough go in a sentence?

Before a noun and after an adjective or adverb. Enough chairs, enough time; warm enough, quickly enough. If you remember only one rule, remember that split. A to-infinitive can follow either pattern to name the result: enough time to walk, old enough to vote.

What is the difference between enough and too?

Enough means the quantity or degree meets the need: The tea is hot enough to drink. Too means it overshoots and causes a problem: The tea is too hot to drink. Too stands before adjectives (too hot); enough stands after them (hot enough). With nouns, too needs much or many; enough does not.

When do I say enough of?

When a determiner or a pronoun follows: enough of the sauce, enough of these nails, enough of them. If the noun is bare, drop of: enough sauce, enough nails. Enough of sauce and enough the sauce are both errors.

How do I make a negative with enough?

Negate the verb and leave enough in its usual slot: There isn't enough light. The bulb isn't bright enough. You can also use no as a separate determiner (no light at all), but not enough is the form that still talks about a requirement that has not been met.

Can enough stand without a noun?

Yes. Once the noun is clear from context, enough works as a pronoun: Have you had enough? Two pages is enough. That's enough for today. Add of when a determiner follows (enough of this noise) and stop without of when nothing follows.

English grammar · Intermediate

Enough: Position Before Nouns and After Adjectives

Written by Eleanor Whitfield, Lead English Curriculum Editor · Reviewed September 2026

Enough means as much or as many as is needed. It goes in front of a noun (enough chairs, enough time) and after an adjective or adverb (warm enough, quickly enough). It also stands alone as a pronoun when the noun is already clear, and it often pairs with a to-infinitive to say what the quantity or degree makes possible.

The water isn't hot enough to make tea.

adjective plus enough, then a to-infinitive of result

What it is

Enough is a quantifier of sufficiency. It does not name a number; it says that a quantity or a degree meets (or fails to meet) what the situation requires. English is strict about where that word sits: before a noun, after an adjective or adverb. Mix those two positions and the sentence sounds foreign even when every other word is right. Not enough is simply the negative: the requirement is not met.

We have enough cups. (before the noun) The tea isn't strong enough. (after the adjective) There isn't enough to go round. (pronoun, noun understood)

How to spot it

Find the noun, adjective, or adverb that enough is judging. If a noun follows, enough should stand in front of it. If an adjective or adverb is being judged, enough should stand after it. A to-infinitive after that cluster names the purpose or the result.

There isn't enough basil for the sauce. (enough before an uncountable noun)
The hall wasn't large enough for a choir. (adjective plus enough plus for)
She didn't speak slowly enough. (adverb plus enough)
He's old enough to vote. (adjective plus enough plus a to-infinitive)

Enough of is required before a determiner or pronoun: enough of the cake, enough of them. Without a determiner, drop of: enough cake, enough people.

Enough Quick Reference

Where enough sits, and what it combines with

Pattern	Example	Meaning
enough + noun	enough bread, enough seats	a sufficient quantity
adjective + enough	warm enough, loud enough	a sufficient degree
adverb + enough	early enough, clearly enough	a sufficient manner or time
enough + to-infinitive	enough time to walk, old enough to drive	sufficiency for a result
not enough	not enough light, not fast enough	the requirement is not met
enough of + determiner	enough of the sauce, enough of those	a sufficient part of a known set
enough as a pronoun	That's enough. Have you got enough?	the noun is already understood

Common Enough Examples in English

Four patterns that cover almost every sentence with enough. The position of the word is the whole lesson:

Enough Plus a Noun

Have we got enough milk for breakfast?: enough before an uncountable noun
There weren't enough stands for every player.: enough before a plural countable noun
She didn't leave enough space for the cello case.: enough plus noun as the object
Enough rain had fallen to fill the butts.: enough plus uncountable noun as the subject

Never put the noun first in this pattern: money enough survives in a few fixed or literary phrases, but enough money is the living form.

Adjective or Adverb Plus Enough

The soup isn't salty enough.: adjective plus enough: the degree falls short
Is this ladder long enough?: adjective plus enough in a question
They arrived early enough to claim the front row.: adverb plus enough plus a to-infinitive
The print isn't dark enough to read in that light.: adjective plus enough plus to-infinitive

Enough hot and enough slowly are the classic errors. The judged word comes first; enough follows it.

Enough To and Not Enough

There isn't enough time to walk from the harbour.: not enough plus noun plus to-infinitive
She hasn't practised enough to sit the exam.: enough as an adverb, then to-infinitive
We hadn't brought enough food to last the crossing.: past negative: the supply fell short
The attic isn't insulated enough to use as a studio.: adjective plus enough plus to-infinitive

The to-infinitive names what becomes possible (or stays impossible) because of that quantity or degree.

Enough Standing Alone

Two pages is enough.: pronoun after a quantity, noun understood
Have you had enough?: pronoun: enough food or drink, from context
That's enough for today.: pronoun plus for plus a limit
Enough of the glaze had cracked to ruin the set.: enough of plus a known noun phrase

When a determiner (the, this, my, these) sits in front of the noun, enough needs of: enough of the glaze, not enough the glaze.

How Enough Works

A word of sufficiency with two slots, a negative, and a to-infinitive that names the result.

Before Nouns, After Adjectives and Adverbs

Enough is a pre-noun quantifier and a post-adjective modifier, never the other way round in standard English. Enough chairs, enough patience; warm enough, clearly enough. The same word does both jobs, so learners who treat it as an ordinary adjective (enough warm) or as a post-noun tag (chairs enough) trip on the first pattern they meet.

We bought enough paint, but the wall still isn't pale enough.

enough before the noun paint; enough after the adjective pale

Noun: enough first. Adjective: enough second.

Not Enough Is the Negative of Sufficiency

Put not with the verb, or use no as a separate determiner, but do not invent a single word nonenough. There isn't enough light and The light isn't bright enough are the two negative shapes, matching the two positions. Too little and too few are close in meaning but belong to a different pair (too vs. enough).

There isn't enough light, and the bulb isn't bright enough.

not enough plus noun; adjective plus enough in the negative

Negate the verb; keep enough in its slot.

Enough To Names What Becomes Possible

A to-infinitive after enough (or after adjective/adverb + enough) states the purpose or the result that the quantity unlocks. Enough money to rent the hall. Old enough to vote. Not warm enough to swim. For plus a noun names a recipient or a use instead: enough cake for the guests, warm enough for a swim.

The platform isn't wide enough to take a second piano.

degree plus enough plus the result that fails

Enough to + verb. Enough for + noun.

Enough Of Before a Determiner or Pronoun

When the noun already has the, this, that, my, these, those, or when a pronoun follows, English inserts of: enough of the sauce, enough of those chairs, enough of them. Bare nouns take no of: enough sauce, enough chairs. Mixing the two (enough of sauce, enough the sauce) is the usual slip.

Enough of the glaze had cracked. We still had enough glaze to patch it.

of because the names a known batch; no of before a bare noun

Determiner after enough? Add of.

Common Mistakes with Enough

Incorrect: The water isn't enough hot.

Correct: The water isn't hot enough.

When enough judges an adjective, it stands after that adjective. Enough hot copies the before-noun pattern onto the wrong kind of word.

Incorrect: We haven't chairs enough for the choir.

Correct: We haven't enough chairs for the choir.

With a noun, enough comes first. Chairs enough is an old or literary order and sounds wrong in modern speech.

Incorrect: There is enough of milk in the jug.

Correct: There is enough milk in the jug.

Of appears only when a determiner or pronoun follows: enough of the milk, enough of it. A bare noun takes enough with no of.

Incorrect: She is enough old for driving.

Correct: She is old enough to drive.

Two errors at once: enough must follow old, and the result is a to-infinitive (to drive), not for plus an -ing form, when you mean the action she can now do.

Enough of, Fair Enough, and Enough as a Pronoun

A few patterns sit around the core rule and are worth learning as chunks.

Enough as a pronoun

Once the noun is known, enough can stand alone as subject, object, or complement.

I've had enough.: object pronoun: enough of whatever was being consumed
Is that enough?: complement: does this quantity meet the need
Enough remains to glaze the last bowl.: subject pronoun

I've had enough of this noise uses of because this is a determiner; I've had enough stops before of when no noun follows.

Fixed replies

Fair enough accepts a point. That's enough can close an activity or a complaint. Leave well enough alone warns against extra interference.

Fair enough, we'll try the later slot.: accepting the other person's reasoning
That's enough for this rehearsal.: closing a session
The repair is ugly, but leave well enough alone.: do not improve it further

These are replies and warnings, not patterns you build new sentences from word by word.

Quick Check: Enough

Put enough in the right place, or complete the pattern.

1. The attic isn't ___ (warm) to store the scores.

Answer: warm enough

adjective plus enough, then to-infinitive

2. Have we bought ___ (paint) for both walls?

Answer: enough paint

enough before the noun

3. There isn't ___ of ___ glaze left to finish the bowl. (the)

Answer: enough of the

of because the determiner follows

4. They didn't arrive ___ (early) to claim a seat.

Answer: early enough

adverb plus enough

5. Rewrite: The tea is so hot that we cannot drink it. (too or enough)

Answer: The tea is too hot to drink. / The tea isn't cool enough to drink.

too marks excess; not enough marks a shortfall

Enough FAQs

Where does enough go in a sentence?: Before a noun and after an adjective or adverb. Enough chairs, enough time; warm enough, quickly enough. If you remember only one rule, remember that split. A to-infinitive can follow either pattern to name the result: enough time to walk, old enough to vote.
What is the difference between enough and too?: Enough means the quantity or degree meets the need: The tea is hot enough to drink. Too means it overshoots and causes a problem: The tea is too hot to drink. Too stands before adjectives (too hot); enough stands after them (hot enough). With nouns, too needs much or many; enough does not.
When do I say enough of?: When a determiner or a pronoun follows: enough of the sauce, enough of these nails, enough of them. If the noun is bare, drop of: enough sauce, enough nails. Enough of sauce and enough the sauce are both errors.
How do I make a negative with enough?: Negate the verb and leave enough in its usual slot: There isn't enough light. The bulb isn't bright enough. You can also use no as a separate determiner (no light at all), but not enough is the form that still talks about a requirement that has not been met.
Can enough stand without a noun?: Yes. Once the noun is clear from context, enough works as a pronoun: Have you had enough? Two pages is enough. That's enough for today. Add of when a determiner follows (enough of this noise) and stop without of when nothing follows.