1. 用作名詞,表示“足夠(的數目或數量),沒有復數形式,但根據情況可表示復數意義。如:
Enough has been said of this problem. 有關這個問題,已經談得夠多了。
Enough were present to constitute a quorum. 出席的人數夠法定人數。
2. 用作形容詞,通常修飾復數名詞或不可數名詞,可放在被修飾名詞之前或之後(但以前置為多見)。如:
He has enough money to buy a car. 他有足夠的錢買輛汽車。
We have time enough to get to the airport. 我們來得及趕到機場。
有時與某些具有形容詞意味的名詞連用,此時 enough 必須後置,且該名詞通常不用冠詞。如:
I was fool [=foolish] enough to accept his offer. 我接受他的提議真是太傻了。
3. 用作副詞,可用來修飾形容詞、副詞、動詞等,此時總是放在被修飾語之後。如:
You don’t relax enough. 妳休息不足。
I wonder if it’s large enough. 我不知道它是否夠大。
You’re not driving fast enough. 妳開車開得不夠快。
修飾形容詞時要後置,即使被修飾的形容詞後面修飾有名詞也是如此。如:
We haven’t got a big enough house. 我們的房子不夠大。
He was a handsome enough child. 他是壹個非常帥氣的孩子。
但是,如果enough修飾整個名詞詞組,則置於形容詞之前。比較:
We haven’t got big enough nails. 我們沒有夠大的釘子。
We haven’t got enough big nails. 我們沒有足夠多的大釘子。
4. 可用於某些副詞之後對壹情景進行評論。可以這樣使用的詞有curiously, funnily, interestingly, oddly, strangely, surprisingly等。如:
Strangely enough, I won first prize. 說來奇怪,我得了壹等獎。
Curiously enough, he seemed to know that already. 說也奇怪,他似乎已經知道這事了。
Interestingly enough, this proportion has not increased. 說也有趣,這個比例並未增加。
Oddly enough, we didn’t meet, although we were both there. 真怪,我們沒有碰面,雖然我們都在那裏。
5. 在通常情況下,enough不能用作表語,除非其主語是代詞或是那些具有(或暗示有)數量意義的名詞。如:
One such dictionary is enough. 這樣的詞典壹本就夠了。
Five men will be quite enough. 5個人完全夠了。
I did all I could, but it wasn’t enough. 我做了我能做的壹切,但是還不夠。
比較下面的正誤句子:
誤:The beer isn’t enough. 啤酒不夠。
正:There isn’t enough beer. 啤酒不夠。
誤:Was the time enough? 時間夠嗎?
正:Did you have enough time? 妳們時間夠嗎?
6. 用於cannot...enough,表示“無論怎樣……都不夠”。如:
I cannot thank you enough. 我對妳感謝不盡。
You cannot be careful enough. 妳越仔細越好。
I cannot say enough in praise of his work. 我對他的工作贊揚不已,怎麽說也不嫌過分。
摘自“中學英語高頻詞詳解詞典”的enough詞典。