Grammar · Free lesson
Too expensive or very expensive?
A concert ticket costs a lot. You may still choose to buy it. But if it exceeds your budget, you need a word that explains the problem.
Professor Scott MendozaThe short answer
Too expensive means more expensive than is acceptable or affordable in the situation. Very expensive only emphasizes a high price. Put too before the adjective: too heavy. Add to + verb to name a blocked action: too heavy to lift.
Too points to a limit. Very adds intensity.
Very expensive says the price is high. It does not by itself say that you cannot pay. Too expensive says the price goes beyond a relevant limit. You can specify whose limit with for me, or explain an action with too + adjective + to + base verb.
High degree or a practical problem?
This ticket is very expensive, but I can afford it.
This ticket is too expensive for me.
This bag is too heavy to carry.
A bag can be too heavy for one person but manageable for another. The limit depends on the situation.
Make the limit clear
Name the quality
expensive
Show it exceeds a limit
too expensive
Identify whose limit
too expensive for me
Try it now
Choose the meaning you need.
Read all answers and explanations
The price exceeds your budget. Choose the sentence that directly expresses that limit.
This ticket is too expensive.Too expensive directly marks the price as beyond a limit. Expensive too means expensive as well, while very too expensive is not the normal pattern here.
What does “This ticket is very expensive” tell us on its own?
It costs a lot; the sentence alone does not say it exceeds my budget.Very emphasizes the high price. Without more context, it does not establish whether you can afford the ticket.
Choose the correctly formed sentence meaning the bag’s weight prevents carrying it.
The bag is too heavy to carry.Use too before heavy, then to + base verb: too heavy to carry. Neither heavy too to carry nor too heavy carrying forms this pattern.
Put it into practice
Explain why you cannot lift it.
Keep the meaning that the suitcase exceeds what you can lift. Repair the too + adjective + to + verb pattern.
The suitcase is heavy too to lift.
See a model answer
The suitcase is too heavy to lift.
Too heavy to lift connects the degree of weight with what cannot be done in this situation.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Does very always describe something good?
No. Very can strengthen a negative description too. Very noisy describes a high noise level, without automatically saying it is beyond a particular limit.
The room is very noisy.
What about “I want a ticket too”?
There too means also. It is not modifying an adjective or describing an excessive degree.
I want a ticket too.
Take it into your day
Very makes the adjective stronger. Too says it goes beyond a relevant limit.
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