Question

Choose the option which is grammatically correct:

• A. She is enough wise to decide on the right course of action.
• B. She is wise enough to decide on the right course of action.
• C. She is too wise to decide on the right course of action.
• D. She is wise rather to decide on the right course of action.

Hint:

Positioning of Enough:
$\text{Adjective} + \textbf{enough}$ (e.g., wise enough, strong enough).
$\textbf{Enough} + \text{Noun}$ (e.g., enough money, enough experience).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Concept:
The syntactic positioning of the modifier “enough” represents a foundational rule in English grammar. Unlike most standard adverbs of degree (such as very, quite, exceedingly), which precede the adjectives they modify, “enough” functions as a postpositive modifier when qualifying adjectives or adverbs. That is, it must be placed directly after the adjective/adverb. When “enough” modifies a noun, however, it is placed before the noun as a determiner.

Step 1: Structural Rules for “Enough”:
- $\text{Rule 1: } Adjective/Adverb + enough + to-infinitive$ (e.g., “wise enough to decide”, “fast enough to win”).
- $\text{Rule 2: } Enough + Noun + to-infinitive$ (e.g., “enough wisdom to decide”, “enough time to finish”).

Step 2: Evaluation of Options:
- (A) “enough wise”: Violates Rule 1 by placing “enough” before the adjective.
- (B) “wise enough to decide”: Flawlessly conforms to Rule 1, placing “enough” immediately after the adjective “wise” and preceding the to-infinitive.
- (C) “too wise to decide”: The construction too + adjective + to-infinitive conveys an excessively negative implication (“so wise that she cannot decide”), which creates an illogical semantic contradiction.
- (D) “wise rather to decide”: Grammatically invalid and incoherent word order.

Step 3: Final Answer:
The grammatically correct option is Option (B).