Episode 90 Get These 4 Intensifiers Right and Improve Your Everyday English

In today's episode we will look at the correct grammar and meaning for intensifiers, specifically So, Too, Such and Enough.    It's common for my students to get 'too' and 'so' mixed up or to think they are the same thing. In this episode we'll look at how they can change the meaning of a sentence.    Have a great weekend! Vocabulary So & Such = Very So > usually used before an adjective or adverb Such > usually used before an adjective or noun This house is so big! This jigsaw is so fiddly to make. I've never see so many people! I've been so busy recently. I'm having such a lovely time. This is such a disaster! It's such a wonderful house. There is such a thing as too much chocolate! Too = More than necessary Usually used before an adjective or adverb. Usually has a negative meaning. It's too hot in here. It's taking too long to get there. He's too angry right now, let's come back later. It's too fiddly to make. Enough = the right amount of something Usually used before a noun OR after a verb or adjective I've eaten enough turkey to last a lifetime. That's enough now, it's time to go. Have you had enough? Do you think the car is big enough? Yes, the car is definitely big enough. Remember the two sentences where we can see the difference in meaning between 'so' and 'too'? This jigsaw is so fiddly to make. > this sentence is just explaining a fact, we don't know if it's good or bad, we just know it's fiddly. It's too fiddly to make. > this sentence tells us that we don't want to make it or we don't like it. It's fiddly-ness is a problem in this sentence. Additional Vocabulary There is such a thing as too much chocolate! - 'There is such a thing as...' this construction is often used to emphasise that we can have too much of something that we really like. We might see it used with things everyone accepts we all like such as chocolate, ice cream and money.We can also hear 'there's never enough chocolate' and 'there's no such thing as too much chocolate!' Both of these are emphasising that even though we like something a lot and maybe we have a lot of it, we can always have more. Fiddly - something that is small or intricate and difficult to do because of it's smallness. Fiddly is often considered a negative thing, but not always. I've eaten enough turkey to last a lifetime. - I've ___ enough ___ to last a lifetime.' This construction is common when we've had more than enough of something. We don't want to do it anymore. It's very likely we will do that thing again, but we need to stop for a while. This kind of sentence is often said around Christmas in the UK and Thanksgiving in the USA when turkey is traditionally eaten. We can also use it for other things for example after a day at Disneyland we might say 'I've ridden enough rollercoasters to last a lifetime.' In fact, we might be very willing to go back to Disneyland tomorrow or next week, but we're done for today.