When Is an Airport “Too Busy” — and When Does It Have “Enough” Runways?
We use too and enough to talk about amounts and limits. Too shows there is more of something than we want — it points to a problem. Enough shows there is the right amount — no problem at all.
Word order matters. Too goes before an adjective or adverb: too busy, too long. Enough goes after an adjective or adverb, but before a noun: busy enough, but enough time.
Too + adjective/adverb (+ to do)
too busy (for planes to land)
too long (to wait)
Adjective/adverb + enough / enough + noun
quick enough (to help everyone)
enough runways (for every flight)
Watch out for these mistakes
- ✗ The airport was enough busy. → ✓ The airport was busy enough. (enough comes after the adjective)
- ✗ There were too many not runways open. → ✓ There weren’t enough runways open. (enough comes before the noun, and the negative goes on the verb)
Try it: storms at O’Hare
A busy US hub airport had a bad week in September when storms and a closed runway caused hundreds of delays. Fill each gap with too or enough, then try the last question.
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On 17 September, the storm over Chicago was ____ strong for planes to land safely.
Too goes before the adjective (strong) to show a problem — the storm was more than planes could safely handle.
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O’Hare did not have ____ open runways to handle every flight.
Enough goes before the noun (runways) here — there was not the right amount for the airport to cope.
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Some pilots waited ____ long before they could land.
Too goes before the adverb (long) — the wait was more than the pilots wanted.
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The terminal was ____ crowded for some tired passengers.
Too goes before the adjective (crowded) to show the number of people was a problem.
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Airlines tried to move passengers to new flights quickly ____ to stop more delays.
Enough goes after the adverb (quickly) — it asks whether the speed was sufficient.
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Which sentence describes a GOOD result — enough space for every family at the gate?
“Big enough” means the size was sufficient — no problem. “Too small” and “wasn’t … enough” both describe a shortage.
Now make it real
Think about your own flying, training or work. Write 1–2 true sentences using too or enough — about a delay, a busy shift, or anything that was (or wasn’t) the right amount.
Before you check your sentence, ask yourself:
- Does your sentence say clearly if something was a problem (too) or okay (enough)?
- Is your sentence true — something that really happened to you?
- Is enough in the right place — after the adjective, or before the noun?
- Did you check your spelling and add a full stop?
- The queue at security was too long today, so I nearly missed my gate.
- We had enough time before boarding to grab a coffee.
Now rewrite your sentence to make it clearer or more exact.
CEFR Level A2 / ICAO Level 3
If you’d like more practice at this level, browse our CEFR A2 archive — most pieces there use short, clear sentences like these.
