How To Use TOO Stop Making This Common Mistake in English
Hey there I’m Emma from mmmEnglish.
Today I want to talk to you about this. I’ve read it
and I’ve heard it so many times from my students, too many times.
Today I want to nip it in the bud.
I’m going to explain why it’s incorrect to say:
I like your lessons too much.
Your lessons are too good.
And I’ll teach you what you should be saying instead.
Are you ready?
Let’s take a close look at this sentence.
I like your lessons too much.
What do you think the feeling is behind this sentence?
Is it positive? Is it negative?
What’s this person trying to say?
Can you think of a different way to express the same idea?
If you can, write it down in the comments for me.
I want to see what you can come up with.
While the intention is good, the meaning of this sentence is not.
This person, I think means to say
I really like your lessons or I like your lessons so much.
I like your lessons a lot.
All of these sentences are really good alternatives.
They talk about the degree to which the lesson is lacked.
You know, we could also
bring that degree back down a little. We could lower it and say
I don’t really like your lessons.
So why shouldn’t you say
I like your lessons too much.
Your lessons are too good.
Let’s talk about why too is not the best choice for this sentence.
Think back to when you learned about too much and too many.
We know that using too in this way suggests that we
have more than what we need or what we want,
more than what is suitable.
So much and many are used with nouns, aren’t they? We can say:
too many people,
that’s more people than you want or you need.
Too much furniture,
more furniture than you want or you need.
Too many options,
more options than you want or you need like I can’t decide.
There’s too many options!
So in addition to much and many, too can be used with
adjectives and adverbs to give us
more information about those adjectives and those adverbs.
We can say. He’s driving too fast.
You’re speaking too quickly for me.
He’s too old to run that business.
Notice that too always comes before the adjective in the adverb
but what you really need to remember is that by using too
with an adjective or an adverb, it usually suggests
that it’s a negative thing because too means,
the definition of too in this context is that it’s more than you need
or you want right so it has a negative feeling. It’s a problem.
There’s too much of it.
It’s too high
means it’s higher than you want, right?
The shelf is too high. I can’t reach it.
I’m too hungry to concentrate.
I can’t concentrate. All I can think about is food.
It’s a negative thing. I’m not able to get my work done because
I’m hungry. You can even emphasise, make the meaning
even stronger.
We can say this lesson is too long
or this lesson is way too long, far too long.
So way and far help us to add emphasis
to that negative feeling. It makes it even stronger.
So far, so good right? Clear?
Now where some of my students get stuck is when they use too
to express positive ideas with adjectives like good
funny and smart.
So if we apply the same logic,
we think about that, too good means
more good than you want something to be or if you like something
too much then you like it more than you want to.
So can you see how the meaning starts to get a little strange
when we’re talking about
positive adjectives and emotions and feelings
and that’s because we’re trying to say something positive
but with a word that usually suggests a negative thing.
Let’s look at an example.
You’re too qualified for this role or for this job.
So if you’re qualified for something, you have the education
and the training that you need to do that job well, right?
To have qualifications is a good thing,
to be qualified is a good thing
so we know now that if you say you’re too qualified
then we’re suggesting that there’s some sort of negative meaning
or there’s a problem, right?
The qualifications that you have are
more than what is needed or what is wanted.
So you might hear this when you’re applying for a job.
If you get told that you’re too qualified
it probably means that they’re about to tell you that you’re not
getting the job that you applied for
because you’re too qualified. You’re overqualified.
I actually had this happen recently.
I put out a job ad. I wanted someone with about three to five
years experience in a marketing and a communications role
and someone applied who was the director of a creative agency
and had been working in marketing for over ten years
and so initially I thought
awesome! This is going to be great. She’s going to be amazing!
She’s going to bring all these amazing skills
but then I started thinking…
Hang on, I’m gonna have to pay her
way more than I budgeted for this role
because her experience and her skills
are more than what I can pay for.
She was too qualified and too experienced for the role.
So can you see how even something positive
can sometimes be a negative thing and that too
is a really important part of communicating that
so you’ve got to be careful.
Let’s imagine that you really enjoyed a movie.
Well then don’t say:
The movie was too good.
If you really like this lesson don’t say:
I like this lesson too much.
So what should you say instead? Any ideas?
You can use very or really to add emphasis.
This doesn’t create a negative meaning, it just adds emphasis
to the adverb or the adjective that you’re using.
Same with so. So we can use so to add emphasis but it’s like
even more than really and very.
It’s like shock and surprise.
Wow, that is so expensive.
But compare that to:
It’s too expensive.
Then we’ve got a problem. Maybe I don’t have the money to pay
or I don’t want to pay that much money for it so I’m saying
it’s too expensive to say that there’s a problem.
In any of these sentences we can add really, very or so.
The movie was really good.
I like this lesson so much!
These are the words that you need to use to emphasise
positive emotions.
Now I know that some of you are gonna say:
Hey Emma, you made a whole video telling us not to use very.
What’s with that?
Okay point taken
but once you are accurately and confidently using too, very and so
then I want you to watch this lesson up here
to expand your vocabulary and express yourself in more
advanced ways to go even further beyond this lesson.
Now I don’t want to rock the boat too much here
but I am going to talk about the few times when it is actually
appropriate to use too
with positive adjectives and adverbs in English.
Yeah! There are a few occasions where it makes sense to say that
someone or something is too good or too funny or too smart.
Can you think of a time when you might tell someone that they’re
smarter or funnier than you want them to be
or you need them to be?
What about if you’re competing against someone?
Maybe it’s a spelling test or a maths quiz or the quiz
that I put out here on Youtube last week.
You could say to someone: You’re too smart for me.
Smarter than I want you to be because I can’t compete with you.
Maybe you’re just playing a game with a child
and you want to tell them that
they’re better than you are.
They’re better than you are at this.
You can say: You’re too good for me.
I can’t beat you. I can’t win. You’re too good for me.
You’re too good.
So in this context, we’re saying
you’re better than me so it’s a positive thing
because we’re comparing ourselves to that other person.
We’re actually paying them a compliment so in this context,
it’s absolutely okay to say that someone is too good
or too smart for you.
So you may hear..
Please don’t get mad at me
but you may hear this rule being busted
by native English speakers, definitely here in Australia,
I think in the UK, maybe in the US, let me know
but this rule gets broken informally.
Maybe when someone tells you that they
played a prank on someone
and you might say:
That’s too funny.
And I’ve been thinking about this, about why and how and when
and I think that it happens when our reaction, our tone,
our body language, when that reaction can’t match
the emotion for some reason. So if the story is actually really funny
but you’re at work so you can’t really
burst out laughing or maybe you’re on the phone,
then you might say:
That’s too funny
like I said, it’s really informal and it is an exception,
it kind of requires sophisticated use of language
and particularly tone but I wanted to mention it just in case you
do come across it, you might be able to recognise this exception.
Maybe you hear it in a TV series
or something where someone says:
That’s too good!
Another exception but this time in a formal situation
is you might hear someone say:
Thank you, you’re too kind.
But in this context, this is a positive thing
right so it’s an exception because
we’re saying you’re too kind.
Usually that would suggest that there’s a problem or that it’s
it’s a negative thing.
But with you’re too kind,
it’s always positive, it’s just quite formal.
You’re too kind.
So I hope this lesson reminded you how careful you need to be
with this little but important English word
and if I ever see you write a comment
under one of my lessons saying:
Emma this lesson is too good!
I will be able to send you right back to this video right
just to remind you about what you need to do, what you need to
pay attention to as you’re using too.
Of course, if you have any doubts or questions or requests to make
make sure you add them down in the comments below.
I would love to get back to you down there
and continue the conversation.
Make sure you’re subscribed to the channel just down there.
I make new lessons every week including ones like this one.
If you want to practise your natural English pronunciation
and expression you can do that with me in my imitation lessons.
Thanks for watching this lesson and I will see you next week.
Bye for now!