Using “enough” After Adjectives

We use “enough” after an adjective to say that something meets a need or requirement.

It means: sufficient, acceptable, or not too little.

Word Order

adjective + enough  

(Not: enough good, enough fast, etc.)

Examples

good enough – The quality is OK.

This chair is good enough to use.

fast enough – The speed is OK.

She is running fast enough to win.

smart enough – The intelligence is OK.

He is smart enough to solve the problem.

Negative Form

Use not + adjective + enough to say something is not sufficient.

This bag is not big enough.

I am not warm enough in this jacket.

Why it matters

Using “enough” correctly helps you sound more natural in English.

It also helps you express ability, quality, and limits clearly.

Add "-ly" to an adjective = adverb

Simple rule: adding -ly to an adjective makes an adverb.

An adverb gives us more information about a verb in a sentence. Adverbs describe when something happens, where something happens, how something happens, and how often something happens. 

WHEN: tomorrow, now, today, later, early, again, soon. Can you think of another?  

WHERE: here, there, inside, high, away, home, everywhere. Can you think of another? 

HOW: easily, loudly, quickly, angrily, well, sadly, slowly, carefully. Can you think of another?  

HOW OFTEN / FREQUENCY: usually, sometimes, daily, frequently, seldom, monthly. Can you think of another?  

We usually make adverbs by adding “ly” to the end of an adjective.

slow —> slowly

clear —> clearly

If a word ends in -y and has more than one syllable, we add “-ily”:

happy --> happily

bouncy --> bouncily

sturdy --> sturdily

easy --> easily

noisy —> noisily

 

If a word ends in -y and has only one syllable, then just add “-ly”:  

shy --> shyly

coy --> coyly

Be careful! Here are some common exceptions: well, good, fast, hard, late, early, daily, straight, wrong (less formal), wrongly (more formal). 

Try to use adverbs to make your speaking and writing more detailed and fascinating. 

Using participles to express feelings and emotions

A participle is a word formed from a verb that can be used as an adjective, and we have two types:
Present participle (e.g., annoying, inspiring, pleasing)
Past participle (e.g., annoyed, inspired, pleased).

There are many verbs in the present and past participle form that express feelings and emotions, but the meanings of their participles differ when used as adjectives.

1. The present participle (-ing form of the verb) describes people or things that cause the feeling.
- The lecture is boring. (The dull lecture causes this feeling.)

2. The past participle (-ed form of the verb) is used to say how people feel.
- When you are listening to a dull lecture, you are bored. (I am experiencing this feeling as a result of the dull lecture.)


As an English learner, using the participle incorrectly can sometimes cause embarrassment, especially when talking about yourself.

I am boring. - incorrect (You don’t want to describe yourself that way.)
I am bored. - correct (I feel bored.)

I am disappointing. - incorrect (I am a disappointing person. - Don’t talk about yourself like that.)
I am disappointed. - correct (I feel disappointed.)

Just remember that you cannot use the past participle/–ed form with things because things do not have emotions.

I feel satisfied after eating pizza. (I am experiencing this feeling as a result of eating pizza.)
The pizza was satisfying. (The pizza caused this satisfying feeling.)


Here are some verbs that express feelings and emotions when in participle form:

amaze, amuse, annoy, astonish, bore, calm, challenge, comfort, compel, confuse, depress, devastate, disappoint, disgust , distract, disturb, embarrass, encourage, entertain, excite, fascinate, frighten , frustrate, infuriate, inspire, insult , intimidate, interest, mystify, please, puzzle, refresh, relax, satisfy, shock, sicken, stimulate, surprise, tempt, terrify, threaten, thrill, tire, worry

How do you feel after reading this post? Encouraged? Satisfied? Pleased?

Compound adjectives with numbers

English learners sometimes have confusion when writing numbers of things in one specific way: as a compound adjective. A compound adjective is an adjective that contains two or more words. In general we put a hyphen between two or more words (before a noun) when we want them to act as a single idea that describes something (a part-time worker, for example).

So when talking about something involving a number, a castle that is 800 years old, for example, we write the compound adjective: an 800-year-old castle. I'm highlighting this fact about numbers because they are often used incorrectly as adjectives.

What kind of hotel?
- a three-stars hotel (incorrect)
- a three-star hotel (correct)

What kind of garage?
- a two-cars garage (incorrect)
- a two-car garage (correct)

What kind of document?
- a four-pages document (incorrect)
- a four-page document (correct)

Don't feel compelled to make the adjective plural by adding the "s". It's wrong. You can only add the "s" if you write your sentence without the compound adjective (and then, without the hyphen).

For example:

- The hotel is rated with three stars.
- The garage holds two cars.
- The document is four pages.

Remember this rule and you'll speak and write in English like a native.

Adjective Order

Are those your favorite Italian leather shoes?
Lola's house is an imposing 17th-century French tudor.
Mattia was driving an amazing new red Mini Cooper.

What do these three sentences have in common? Answer: several adjectives.

When using many adjectives to describe a person, place, or thing, be aware that the adjectives must be in a particular order or sequence according to its type for your sentence to sound logical: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material, and purpose.

1.Opinion - amazing, interesting, boring
2.Size - big, tiny, enormous
3.Age - modern, new, ancient
4.Shape - square, oval, round
5.Color - pink, green, gold
6.Origin - Greek, Indian, Italian
7.Material - wooden, silver, paper
8.Purpose - describes what something is used for. These adjectives often end with “-ing”.
For example: reading glasses or a roasting pan


So let's return to our original three sentences and look at the their type:

Are those your favorite Italian leather shoes? (opinion - origin - material)
Lola's house is an imposing 17th-century French tudor. (size - age - origin)
Mattia was driving an amazing new red Mini Cooper. (opinion - age - color)

By keeping this logical order in mind, your sentences will also be clear and natural.

This pet is not an animal

- Jeremy is working on a pet project to preserve historic homes in his city.
- My pet peeve (annoyance; irritation) is receiving sales phone calls at home.
- Ron has a pet theory that sun spots cause global warming.

Sometimes we use the adjective pet to describe something that we feel strongly about or that we devote special attention to.

What is your pet peeve?

Embarrassment Prevention

This post is going to prevent you from making a little mistake that could embarrass yourself and it's just a matter of using adjectives in the correct way.


An adjective is formed one way when you describe something/someone, and another way when you describe how you feel.
Let's look at boring and bored: Use 'boring' when you describe something/someone and use 'bored' to describe how you feel.
I was 'bored' because the movie was 'boring' (I felt bored; boring movie). Ok, it seems simple, right? Well, if you're not careful when you speak, you might say that you are boring instead of bored, and it sounds like you're insulting yourself.

In my conversations I often hear, "I am exciting." or "I am interesting." when it should be "I am excited." and "I am interested."

boring bored
exciting excited
annoying annoyed
frightening frightened
interesting interested
confusing confused
tiring tired

Remember, when using adjectives that end in -ing, think before you speak because you don't want to describe yourself as a boring, annoying person when you really feel bored and annoyed.

*By the way, this is my 100th post for improving-english.com and I'm excited!