説明
Adverbs of degree show how strong an adjective or adverb is. Common words are "very", "really", "quite", "too", "a little", and "enough".
For example, "This coffee is too hot to drink." Here "coffee" is the subject, "is" links it to the adjective "hot", and "too" means the heat is more than we want. The phrase "to drink" shows the result, so this means drinking it is difficult. In Japanese, you may say "熱すぎて飲めない", but English usually puts the degree word before the adjective, and "enough" comes after the adjective, as in "big enough".
程度を表す副詞は、形容詞や副詞の強さを表します。よく使うのは "very", "really", "quite", "too", "a little", "enough" です。例えば "This coffee is too hot to drink." では、"coffee" が主語、"is" がつなぎの動詞、"hot" が形容詞、"too" が「熱すぎる」という意味を足しています。"to drink" は、その結果「飲めないほどだ」と伝えます。日本語なら「熱すぎて飲めない」と言えますが、英語では程度の語はふつう形容詞の前に置き、"enough" は "big enough" のように後ろに置きます。
例文
- The water is very cold. 水がとても冷たいです。
- She is really tired after work. 彼女は仕事の後で本当に疲れています。
- Is this chair too small for you? この椅子はあなたには小さすぎますか。
- I am not very hungry yet. まだあまりお腹が空いていません。
- The box is big enough for all the books. その箱は本を全部入れるのに十分大きいです。
- He speaks English quite well. 彼は英語をかなり上手に話します。
よくある間違い
Japanese learners often put "enough" before the adjective, like "This box is enough big." The correct order is "This box is big enough." The same pattern works in "small enough", "old enough", and "fast enough".
日本語学習者はよく形容詞の前に「enough」を付けて、 「This box is enough big.」のように使います。正しい語順は「This box is big enough.」です。「small enough」「old enough」「fast enough」なども同様です。