6 Minute Grammar from bbclearningenglish .com Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Grammar with me, Finn.
Sorry I'm so late, Finn.
Oh, Rob, OK. There was such a long queue at the coffee machine.
Ah, so late. Such a long queue.
Great examples for today's topic, Rob.
Yes, thank you very much.
Yes, we're talking about so, such, too and enough.
When Rob said he was so late, he meant he was very late.
Now, Helen has some more examples using so.
This coffee is so good!
Finn speaks English so well!
So, it's so before an adjective.
This coffee is so good, so strong, so hot.
Sounds good. Or before an adverb.
He speaks English so well, so fluently, so fast.
And we use such with a noun.
Rob said there was such a long queue, meaning the queue was very long.
Here are some more examples.
My holiday was such fun.
My holiday was such a disaster!
We say such fun without the indefinite article a because fun is uncountable.
But it's such a disaster, such a disaster, with the article because disaster is countable.
Now we often use such with an adjective and a noun together.
Listen to this. Adele has such an amazing voice.
We had such good weather in Greece.
So it's such good weather, such an amazing voice.
Remember, with countable nouns, put the a or an after such not before.
Nowadays, you sometimes hear people use so with a noun or verb for emphasis, like this.
That dress is so last year.
I'm so going to hug her when I see her.
So if you say, so last year, it means really not fashionable anymore.
So going to hug her means really going to give her a really good hug.
We can use so and such with a that clause to describe cause and effect, like this.
It was so hot that they had to go indoors.
It was such a hot day that they had to stay indoors.
And we can leave that out so we could say it was so hot they had to go indoors.
We also use so with many or much and a noun to describe a lot of something.
It's so much with uncountable nouns and so many with countable nouns.
What a great party!
I had so much fun! We've visited so many places.
So, that's so and such.
Now for to and enough.
Yes. Now, we use enough with an adjective or adverb to say something is or isn't the right degree.
So, if I ask Finn, are you warm enough, Finn?
I am, thanks. Good.
Well, I'm asking if it's the right temperature for you.
Notice enough comes after the adjective or adverb.
We can also use enough after a verb.
He doesn't sleep enough.
He's always tired. When we use enough with a noun, it goes before the noun.
We have enough food, enough time.
And sentences with enough are sometimes followed by to and a verb.
She's definitely smart enough to become director.
You know, Rob, I think that's enough about enough.
Indeed. Now, to say there's more than necessary, we use the word too with an adjective or adverb.
So we could say this office is too crowded, too noisy or too busy.
And I could say, Rob, that you're working too hard.
Thank you very much.
You work very hard.
We can use too much or too many with a noun to say we have more than we need.
Oh, you've put too much sugar in my tea.
I ate too many biscuits.
And I think we have just enough time for a quiz.
OK, so which is correct?
A or B? Are you ready, Rob?
I am. OK, number one.
A that's a so cute dog.
B that's such a cute dog.
Well, it's B, because it's such with an adjective and noun, and the indefinite article comes after, not before.
That's correct. Number two.
A is there money enough?
Or B is there enough money?
Well, that's B again, because enough goes before a noun.
Correct. And finally number three.
A. I can't afford it.
It's too expensive.
Or B. I can't afford it.
It's so expensive. You're trying to trick me.
Both are correct. Of course, that's right.
Well done if you got them all right at home.
And there's lots more about this on our website at bbclearningenglish .com.
Join us again for more 6 Minute Grammar.
Bye -bye. Bye. Six Minute Grammar from the BBC.
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