2019-04-30 Grammar: too/very, intensifiers with "not"

Homework: “too” and “very” worksheet
1 too
2 very
3 too
4 very
5 too
6 too
7 very
8 very
9 too
10 too
11 very
12 too
13 too
14 too
15 very
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Remember, the meaning of “too” is grammatically negative, but not necessarily bad:
“This food is too good to stop eating.”
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We can use other intensifiers with “too” to express how excessive something is.
Imagine I have $100.
Something that’s $101 is a little / a bit / slightly too expensive for me.
Something that’s $1000 is much / far / way too expensive for me.
- These same words can be used with comparatives to show how big the difference is:
	Something that costs $1000 is far more expensive than something that costs $100.
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Tell your partner about things you don’t like, and explain why using intensifiers and “too”.
Example: I don’t like cats. They’re a little too small for me.
	(You can say something like “for me” or “for my taste” to emphasize that something is your personal opinion.)
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We often use “too”, “really”, “so”, or “very” in negative sentences to make the meaning softer or more polite.
Their food is not very good. = Their food is pretty bad.
He’s not too smart. = He’s pretty stupid.
(We can also do this with superlatives: He’s not the smartest. Their food isn’t the best.)

The negative of a strong positive statement usually means a moderate negative.
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Excercise 8 - Use negative sentences to soften these statements.
1 She’s not very friendly.
2 The boss is not too happy with you.
3 I don’t like homework very much.
4 Matt doesn’t cook very well. / Matt is not too good at cooking. / Matt isn’t a very good cook.
5 Denise doesn’t like listening to other people’s problems too much.
6 The office isn’t very spacious. / The office isn’t quite spacious enough for me.
	(“not too spacious for me” = it’s fine for me, it’s not uncomfortably big)
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Affirmative “quite” for comparable adjectives is between “pretty” and “very”
	That’s quite expensive, but I think I can afford it.
Affirmative “quite” for on/off adjectives means completely, and sounds quite formal.
	Yes, I’m quite finished, thank you.
Negative “quite” for on/off adjectives means almost, but emphasizes that it’s not complete.
	I’m not quite finished. Give me another five minutes.
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“enough” is an on/off intensifier, so “not quite enough” is very common
- I don’t have quite enough money for that TV.
- It’s not quite warm enough to go swimming.
- She doesn’t quite drive fast enough to arrive on time.
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Degree Complements with “too” and “enough” express what is or isn’t possible as a result:
- too = not enough = impossible
	It’s too cold to go swimming. = It’s not warm enough to go swimming. = We can’t go swimming.
- not too = enough = possible
	My coffee is not too hot to drink. = My coffee is cool enough to drink. = I can drink it.