Very and Too
2020-04-11
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1This week we answer a question from Rafael. He asks,
2What's the difference between too and very?
3Dear Rafael,
4Thanks for asking this question.
5These words often cause problems for people who are learning English.
6That is because translating them into your own language may not give you a complete understanding of how they are used.
7"Very" and "too" are both adverbs.
8They come before an adjective.
9The basic difference is that "very" emphasizes the word that follows it.
10"Too" before a word means there is more than what is wanted.
11You can see how this works clearly with the adjective "much" in these sentences:
12I love chocolate very much.
13I eat one piece of chocolate a day.
14He loves chocolate too much.
15He eats a whole box of chocolates every day.
16We use "very" to show there is a higher degree of some quality.
17It often appears in sentences with a positive meaning:
18That is a very good movie.
19My dog is always very happy to see me.
20On the other hand, "too" means there is more of the quality than you want.
21This shows a negative idea. For example,
22That movie is too violent for me.
23The main difference between "very" and "too" is that using "too" suggests that there is some problem.
24On a really hard day, you might come home and say:
25I am too tired to eat, so we should not go out for dinner.
26On a better day, you might say:
27I am very tired, but I can go out for dinner.
28Do you like Thai food? It has many spices.
29Someone who likes it would say:
30I love Thai food: it is very spicy.
31Someone who does not like spices would say:
32Thai food is too spicy.
33And that's Ask a Teacher for this week. Thank you very much for asking your question.
34I'm Jill Robbins.
1This week we answer a question from Rafael. He asks, 2Question: 3What's the difference between too and very? 4Answer: 5Dear Rafael, 6Thanks for asking this question. These words often cause problems for people who are learning English. That is because translating them into your own language may not give you a complete understanding of how they are used. 7"Very" and "too" are both adverbs. They come before an adjective. 8The basic difference is that "very" emphasizes the word that follows it. "Too" before a word means there is more than what is wanted. You can see how this works clearly with the adjective "much" in these sentences: 9I love chocolate very much. I eat one piece of chocolate a day. 10He loves chocolate too much. He eats a whole box of chocolates every day. 11Very 12We use "very" to show there is a higher degree of some quality. It often appears in sentences with a positive meaning: 13That is a very good movie. 14My dog is always very happy to see me. 15Too 16On the other hand, "too" means there is more of the quality than you want. This shows a negative idea. For example, 17That movie is too violent for me. 18What's the difference? 19The main difference between "very" and "too" is that using "too" suggests that there is some problem. On a really hard day, you might come home and say: 20I am too tired to eat, so we should not go out for dinner. 21On a better day, you might say: 22I am very tired, but I can go out for dinner. 23Do you like Thai food? It has many spices. Someone who likes it would say: 24I love Thai food: it is very spicy. 25Someone who does not like spices would say: 26Thai food is too spicy. 27And that's Ask a Teacher for this week. Thank you very much for asking your question. 28I'm Jill Robbins. 29Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this story for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. 30_______________________________________________________________ 31Words in This Story 32emphasize - v. to give special importance or attention to something 33adverb - n. a word that describes a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a sentence and that is often used to show time, manner, place, or degree 34positive - adj. thinking about the good qualities of someone or something 35negative - adj. thinking about the bad qualities of someone or something 36spicy - adj. of food: flavored with or containing strong spices and especially ones that cause a burning feeling in your mouth 37Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.