Learn English – How come ‘much enough’ isn’t correct if ‘big enough’ is correct?

grammargrammatical-numbermeaningword-choiceword-usage

I'm asking for my friend who is learning English. Although I'm a native speaker, I can't really explain it besides "it's not right".

Can someone explain why saying "much enough" isn't correct, while "big enough" is correct? Much and big are both adjectives.

Use case: "it's much enough, we don't need to order anything else."

Best Answer

Big is an adjective. Much is not. You can say "he is big" but not "he is much".

Enough modifies adjectives (or verbs). It's an adverb (or a determiner). So "he is big enough" or "he is rich enough" or "he has studied enough", but there must be a verb or an adjective for it to make sense.

Much is also an adverb/determiner, just like enough. You can often use much in the same places you would use enough.

Did it hurt much?

Did it hurt enough?

Has he got much money?

Has he got enough money?

The correct version of "It's much enough" is "It's enough."

Related Topic