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A park on an old railroad: too and enough with adjectives

Learners practice too and enough with adjectives in this A2 ESL lesson plan about the High Line in New York.

Grammar
Too + adjective for a problem (It's too cold to sit.), adjective + enough for OK, not … enough for less than you need, and too or very.
Topic
The High Line, a park on an old freight railroad that carried food above Manhattan's streets until 1980, with words such as freight, warehouse, bloom and wide.
Activities
A park notice to read, a talk with a gardener and a voice message to hear, self-checking drills, a chat about a local park and open boxes that ask: too or enough?

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1All aboard the High Line!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: an old railroad and its gardensVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a railroad in the sky

    • Look at the photo: the High LinePictureUnlock
    • Read the park noticeReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: too cold to sit?

    • Listen to Nora and a gardenerListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandpa's ChallengeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: too cold, warm enough

    • Study the scheme: too and enoughGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with too or enoughFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: too and not … enoughFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: is it big enough?

    • Choose the right replies: a park in your townChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: too or enough?Open the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Sort the words into the correct columnsSort into columnsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: say it in a different wayFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a review of the High LineDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Nora's postChoose the optionUnlock

30 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • freight
  • cowboy
  • gardener
  • grass
  • wild
  • warehouse
  • wide

Grammar: too, enough and not … enough

A park on an old railroad raises practical questions: is it warm enough to sit, is the path wide enough, are the flowers too far away? Learners use too for a problem and enough for OK, add not … enough for less than you need, and learn to tell too from very.

It's too cold. It isn't warm enough.

too = more than OK: a problem. enough = OK. not … enough = less than you need: a problem.

A problem, OK, or not enough

Too + adjective means more than is OK: It's too cold to sit. Adjective + enough means OK: The bench is warm enough. With not, adjective + enough means less than you need: The bench isn't big enough for three. The second table shows each pattern for every person.

too and enough

PatternIt means…Example
too + adjectivemore than OK: a problem ✗It's too cold to sit.
adjective + enoughOK: as much as you need ✓The bench is warm enough. Let's sit!
not + adjective + enoughless than you need: a problem ✗The bench isn't big enough for three.
Question: be + adjective + enough?Is it OK?Are you warm enough? – Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.

Every person

Whotoo + adjective(not) adjective + enough
II'm too tired to walk.I'm not tall enough to see.
youYou're too fast for me!Are you warm enough?
he, she, itHe's too young to drive. It's too cold.She's old enough to drive. It isn't wide enough.
weWe're too busy to stop.We aren't fast enough.
theyThey're too loud!They're strong enough to carry it.

Very or too?

Very makes an adjective stronger but leaves things OK; too means there's a problem. The coffee is very hot, but I can drink it. The coffee is too hot. I can't drink it. When a problem follows, the word is too.

very = a lot, but it's OK ✓

  • It's very cold, but my coat is warm. I'm OK.
  • The coffee is very hot, but I can drink it.

too = more than OK: a problem ✗

  • It's too cold. Let's go inside!
  • The coffee is too hot. I can't drink it.

To + verb, for + noun

After too or enough, an action takes to + verb (too cold to sit, warm enough to plant flowers), while a noun or a person takes for (wide enough for two people). So it's too busy to walk or too busy for a walk, never too busy for walk.

After too and enough

  • for + a noun or a person: too small for Biscuit, wide enough for two people
  • to + a verb: too cold to sit, warm enough to plant flowers

On the High Line

  • Brr! It's too cold to sit in the shade.
  • The flowers are too far away.
  • This spot is close enough!
  • Is the path wide enough for wheelchairs? – Yes, it is.
  • There are 150,000 plants. That's too many for one gardener!

Where too and enough go

Too goes before the adjective with no much: too busy, not too much busy. Enough goes after it: big enough, not enough big. Before nouns, too many and too much work as fixed chunks: too many people, too much noise.

Where do too and enough go?

Put enough after the adjective: big enough, wide enough (not: enough big). Put too before the adjective, with no much: too busy (not: too much busy). too many and too much are chunks before nouns: too many people, too much noise.

Common mistakes

  • It's too much busy today.

    It's too busy today.

    too + adjective, no much

  • The door isn't enough wide.

    The door isn't wide enough.

    adjective + enough

  • My bag is not enough big.

    My bag isn't big enough.

    not + adjective + enough

  • We're too busy for walk.

    We're too busy to walk. / We're too busy for a walk.

    to + a verb, for + a noun

More lessons on this grammar: Adjectives and adverbs lessons and exercises

Try the too and enough exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

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What's in the lesson

  • 17 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • say something is a problem with too + adjective: It's too cold to sit in the shade.
  • say something is OK, or not, with enough after the adjective: The path is wide enough. The bench isn't big enough for three.
  • tell too from very: The coffee is very hot, but I can drink it. It's too hot. I can't drink it.
  • ask and answer about a park in their town: Are you warm enough? On Saturday, it's too crowded for me.

Lesson 16 closes City or country?, unit 4 of English A2.1 · Then and Now. It builds on adjectives in opposite pairs and very from A1.1 lesson 15 (My room isn't dark. It's bright.), since too small means not big enough. The park's own history turns on enough: by 1978, two carloads of freight a week weren't enough to keep the line open.

After a spin-the-wheel warm-up about parks, plants and trains, students learn ten words with pictures and audio, among them plant, bloom, freight and cowboy. A park notice tells the High Line's story, from the West Side cowboys who rode ahead of street-level trains to the two neighbors who started Friends of the High Line in 1999. Then come Nora's talk with a gardener on the High Line (an AI-voiced dialogue) and a voice message with Grandpa's challenge. Four drills follow the scheme, each checked as students answer, among them a table of too and not … enough pairs. In the speaking chapter, students answer Nora's questions about a park in their town and then open boxes that ask: too or enough?

Homework is nine self-checking exercises: a word match, an anagram, gaps with the lesson's words, a sort into people, plants and trains, sentences to unjumble, too, enough, to or for to choose, sentences to say another way, a visitor's review to complete by dragging words, and a post with the right words to pick.

Grammar:
too + adjective · (not) adjective + enough · too … to / too … for · too or very
Topic:
the High Line · New York City · parks · railroads · gardens · Grandpa's Map

Teaching tips

  • Act out very and too with two bags: lift a heavy one and say It's very heavy, but I can carry it; fail to lift the other and say It's too heavy. I can't carry it.
  • Show the cover before the notice and ask what this park was before: rails among tall grass and purple flowers are the clue. The notice then explains how a freight line became a garden.
  • Collect classroom problems on the board: The window is too small. The room isn't warm enough. Students then say each one the other way round, as the fill-in table does: The window isn't big enough.
  • Plan a perfect park in groups with the last open box: two sentences with enough and one with too, such as The paths are wide enough for bikes.

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The whole course: English A2.1 · Then and Now

32 lessons for adults at A2 in simple American English, from the past simple to going to, should and might. Eight units tell stories of journeys, American firsts, food, places, sports, music, neighbors and dreams. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Amazing journeys

    the past simple, regular and irregular verbs, negatives, prepositions of movement

    1. Lesson 1Around the world in 72 daysThe past simple of regular verbs
    2. Lesson 2The first drive across AmericaIrregular verbs in the past simple
    3. Lesson 3Get your kicks on Route 66Past simple negatives with didn't
    4. Lesson 4She walked 2,000 miles in sneakersPrepositions of movement

  2. Unit 2 American firsts

    was and were, past questions and short answers, ago and in, could for past ability

    1. Lesson 5The first American woman in spaceWas, were, there was and there were
    2. Lesson 6A real bug in the computerPast simple questions with did
    3. Lesson 7“Mr. Watson, come here”Wh- questions in the past simple
    4. Lesson 8Twelve seconds in the airCould and couldn't for past ability

  3. Unit 3 American food

    countable and uncountable nouns, comparatives, ordering food, a few and a little

    1. Lesson 9The first chocolate chip cookieCountable and uncountable nouns in a recipe
    2. Lesson 10Is a jalapeño hotter than a habanero?Comparatives of short adjectives
    3. Lesson 11Two eggs, sunny side up!Offers and orders with would like
    4. Lesson 12Cooking for twenty on ThanksgivingA few, a little and a lot of

  4. Unit 4 City or country?

    comparatives with more and less, superlatives, as … as, too and enough

    1. Lesson 13The island with no carsComparatives with more and less, plus better, worse and farther
    2. Lesson 14America's extremesSuperlatives with the + -est, the most and the least
    3. Lesson 15San Francisco or Yosemite? You choose!As … as for the same, not as … as for less
    4. Lesson 16 · you're hereA park on an old railroadToo, enough and not … enough

  5. Unit 5 Game on

    play, go and do with sports, going to, adverbs of manner, reflexive pronouns

    1. Lesson 17Basketball started with peach baskets?Play, go and do with sports
    2. Lesson 18What's going to happen at LA 2028?Be going to for plans and predictions
    3. Lesson 19Pickleball: a game from a backyardAdverbs of manner
    4. Lesson 20Be brave and tryReflexive pronouns and each other

  6. Unit 6 Music and nights out

    love, enjoy and hate + -ing, the present continuous for plans, suggestions, to for purpose

    1. Lesson 21Where jazz was bornGerunds after love, like, enjoy, hate and don't mind
    2. Lesson 22Music on every streetThe present continuous for future arrangements
    3. Lesson 23A night on BroadwaySuggestions with Let's, Why don't we and How about
    4. Lesson 24An orchestra for every kidThe infinitive of purpose and to or for

  7. Unit 7 Neighbors and community

    much and many, should, something and everyone, because and so

    1. Lesson 25Everybody cleans up!Much and many with nouns you can and can't count
    2. Lesson 26Good neighbors shovel snowShould and shouldn't + the base verb
    3. Lesson 27Take a book, leave a bookIndefinite pronouns with some-, any-, no- and every-
    4. Lesson 28A bench for making friendsBecause for reasons, so for results

  8. Unit 8 Plans and dreams

    verb + to, the present continuous vs going to, might, when, before and after

    1. Lesson 29Never give up: from farm fields to spaceVerb + to + the base form
    2. Lesson 30Across America by trainGoing to and the present continuous for the future
    3. Lesson 31Open in the year 6939Might and might not for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A college graduate at 95Time clauses with when, before and after

Questions about this lesson

How do you use too … to in a sentence?
Use too + adjective + to + verb when something can't happen because of a problem: It's too cold to sit outside. My brother is too young to drive. We're too busy to stop. Here too, with two o's, means more than is OK, and to is the small word before the verb. With a noun or a person, for replaces to: too small for a big party.
How do you use too and enough with adjectives?
Too marks a problem; enough marks OK: It's too cold to sit. The bench is warm enough. With not, enough means less than you need: The bench isn't big enough for three. Questions work the same way: Are you warm enough? Yes, I am. In A park on an old railroad on edio.ai, a gap-fill shows just the adjective, and the meaning of each sentence decides between too and enough.
Does enough go before or after the adjective?
Enough goes after an adjective: big enough, wide enough, old enough to drive, never enough big. With a noun it moves to the front: enough time, enough chairs. In negatives, not stays with the verb: My bag isn't big enough, not My bag is not enough big. The chat in A park on an old railroad on edio.ai puts enough big and too much big next to the right reply.
What's the difference between too and enough?
Too means more than is OK, while enough means just OK, and with opposite adjectives they can say the same thing: The bench is too small = The bench isn't big enough. The water is too cold = The water isn't warm enough. Note the order: too before the adjective, enough after. A fill-in table in this lesson pairs seven such sentences, from too narrow to not wide enough.
What's the difference between too and very?
Very is a lot; too is a problem: The coffee is very hot, but I can drink it. The coffee is too hot. I can't drink it. A quick test is to add the result: if it's I can't, the word is too. That's why It's very hot to drink is wrong and It's too hot to drink is right.
Is it "too much busy" or "too busy"?
It's too busy, with no much in between: too goes straight before an adjective. It's too busy today. The path is too crowded. Too much and too many belong before nouns instead: too much noise, too many people. That's why a park with 150,000 plants has too many for one gardener, while a path full of visitors is simply too crowded.
How do I teach too and enough to A2 students?
Start with problems students can see or feel: a chair too small for the teacher, a classroom not warm enough in winter. Teach too + adjective and adjective + enough as two sides of one idea, contrast too with very, and add to + verb last: too cold to sit. A real place with real limits, such as a park with benches in sun and shade, gives every sentence a reason.
What's a good game for practicing too and enough?
Try a box of everyday is it enough? questions: Is it warm enough for a picnic today? Is your bedroom big enough for you? Whoever opens one answers with too or enough plus a reason. This lesson's boxes end with a planning task, a perfect park in two sentences with enough and one with too, and its warm-up is a spin-the-wheel of park and train questions.
How do you practice too and enough one-to-one?
Ask about places in the student's own life: their town, their room, a park nearby. Is your park big enough for a long walk? Is it too crowded on Saturday? The chat in A park on an old railroad on edio.ai works the same way without a partner: Nora asks about a park in the student's town, and each reply must place too or enough correctly.
What's good homework for practicing too and enough?
Rewriting sentences the other way round works well, because learners must find the opposite adjective: The water is too cold becomes The water isn't warm enough. In A park on an old railroad, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, that drill comes with a choice of too, enough, to or for, a visitor's review of the High Line to complete and sentences to unjumble, all of them self-checking.
Are there interactive exercises for too and enough?
Yes: gap-fills and chats that check each answer at once suit too and enough, because one word decides the meaning. Without signing up, visitors to this page can try four parts of A park on an old railroad, an A2 lesson on edio.ai: the High Line's park notice, Nora's talk with a gardener, a gap-fill where each adjective takes too or enough, and a chat about a park in the student's town. The other drills are locked.
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