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Thread: enough to do something

  1. #1
    Heidi is offline Member
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    Post enough to do something

    Dear teachers,

    - He studied enough to pass the exam.

    I'm not sure how to interpret this sentence. Does it suggest that he studied hard and so he passed the exam?

    Thank you!

  2. #2
    BelovedP is offline Newbie
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    Default Re: enough to do something

    You can use this:


    He studied hard enough to pass the exam.


    Ps: I'm NOT a teacher :)

  3. #3
    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
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    Default Re: enough to do something

    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    Dear teachers,

    - He studied enough to pass the exam.

    I'm not sure how to interpret this sentence. Does it suggest that he studied hard and so he passed the exam?

    Thank you!

    It doesn't really tell you whether the person studied hard or not. It could be that they did the minimum necessary to pass. It also depends on how hard the exam was.
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    Default Re: enough to do something

    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    Dear teachers,

    - He studied enough to pass the exam.

    I'm not sure how to interpret this sentence. Does it suggest that he studied hard and so he passed the exam?

    Thank you!
    "He did enough study to pass the exam."
    No, it doesn't mean he studied hard. "Enough" has its usual meaning here.
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    Heidi is offline Member
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    Threadstarter / Original Poster

    Post Re: enough to do something

    Thank you!

    If the sentence is changed into "he studied hard enough to pass the exam", what I would like to know is if he passed the exam?

    Or it just means he studied hard enough in order to pass the exam?


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    emsr2d2 is offline VIP Member
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    Default Re: enough to do something

    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    Thank you!

    If the sentence is changed into "he studied hard enough to pass the exam", what I would like to know is if he passed the exam?

    Or it just means he studied hard enough in order to pass the exam?
    It depends on whether he passed the exam!

    You could say "He studied [just] hard enough to pass the exam. That's what he thought, but he was wrong and he failed!"

    However, it's more likely that he passed. There's really no difference between "enough to pass" and "enough in order to pass".
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  7. #7
    Heidi is offline Member
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    Default Re: enough to do something

    Quote Originally Posted by emsr2d2 View Post
    It depends on whether he passed the exam!

    You could say "He studied [just] hard enough to pass the exam. That's what he thought, but he was wrong and he failed!"

    However, it's more likely that he passed. There's really no difference between "enough to pass" and "enough in order to pass".
    If Jenny failed on her test. Jenny's mother tells her father, "Don't blame Jenny for failing the exam. She studied hard enough to pass the exam."

    Could you please tell me if this is a possible situation to use 'she studied hard enough to pass the exam'?

    Thank you!

  8. #8
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    Default Re: enough to do something

    Quote Originally Posted by Heidi View Post
    If Jenny failed on her test. Jenny's mother tells her father, "Don't blame Jenny for failing the exam. She studied hard enough to pass the exam."

    Could you please tell me if this is a possible situation to use 'she studied hard enough to pass the exam'?
    Yes - particularly with more context.

    "Don't blame Jenny for failing the exam. She studied hard enough to pass. it wasn't her fault that her teacher had used the old syllabus"
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