Too, Enough, Almost: Degree and Approximation | Russian Grammar

Once you can say "very" (о́чень), the next step is learning to say too much, quite enough, almost, and roughly. These degree-and-approximation adverbs are where intermediate Russian gets precise — and where one particular contrast, сли́шком versus о́чень, trips up nearly every English speaker. This page is the detailed companion to degree adverbs and intensifiers; here the focus is specifically on too / enough / almost plus the approximation kit (about, roughly, around).

The degree adverbs

Adverb	Meaning	Note
сли́шком	too, excessively	signals a problem — more than is acceptable
дово́льно	quite, fairly, rather	moderate positive degree
доста́точно	enough, sufficiently	= as much as needed
почти́	almost, nearly	just short of complete
едва́	barely, scarcely	only just managed
чуть / чуть-чу́ть	slightly, a tiny bit	a very small amount
практи́чески	practically, virtually	= почти́, slightly more formal

сли́шком — too (and it's a problem)

сли́шком means the quantity has passed the acceptable line: too expensive to buy, too hot to drink, too late to call. It always carries a negative judgement — something has gone over the limit.

Э́то сли́шком до́рого, я не куплю́.

This is too expensive, I won't buy it. — сли́шком = over the acceptable limit.

Не звони́ ему́ сейча́с — сли́шком по́здно.

Don't call him now — it's too late. — too late to be acceptable.

дово́льно and доста́точно — quite / enough

дово́льно is "quite, fairly" — a mild, often approving degree (дово́льно хорошо́, "quite well"). доста́точно is "enough / sufficiently" — it measures against a need or threshold (доста́точно тепло́, "warm enough"). They overlap in the middle ("fairly"/"sufficiently") but their cores differ: дово́льно rates intensity, доста́точно rates sufficiency.

Фильм оказа́лся дово́льно интере́сным.

The film turned out to be quite interesting. — дово́льно = a fair degree.

Сего́дня доста́точно тепло́, ку́ртка не нужна́.

It's warm enough today, you don't need a jacket. — доста́точно = sufficient for the need.

почти́, едва́, чуть — almost, barely, slightly

These three plot points along a low-to-near-complete scale: чуть (a tiny bit) → едва́ (barely, only just) → почти́ (almost, nearly there).

Я почти́ гото́в — две мину́ты!

I'm almost ready — two minutes! — почти́ = just short of done.

Он так уста́л, что едва́ стоя́л на нога́х.

He was so tired he could barely stand. — едва́ = only just managed.

Подви́нься чуть-чу́ть впра́во.

Move a tiny bit to the right. — чуть-чу́ть = a small amount.

The о́чень vs сли́шком contrast — the central trap

This is the single most important distinction on the page. о́чень is a neutral intensifier — "very," "a lot" — with no judgement attached. сли́шком is "too" in the excessive sense — it says the degree is a problem, beyond what is wanted or acceptable. English keeps these apart with two different words (very vs too), and so does Russian — but learners reach for о́чень by habit and accidentally neutralise the complaint.

Russian	English	Implication
о́чень до́рого	very expensive	just a description — might still buy it
сли́шком до́рого	too expensive	a verdict — beyond the limit, won't buy
о́чень бы́стро	very fast	neutral — impressive, perhaps
сли́шком бы́стро	too fast	problem — can't keep up

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A simple test: if you could finish the sentence with "…to do X" (too expensive to buy, too late to call), you want сли́шком. If you just mean a high degree with no built-in complaint, you want о́чень. They are not interchangeable.

Approximation: about, roughly, around

When the number is a ballpark rather than exact, Russian offers three common tools:

Word	Meaning	Construction
приме́рно	approximately, about	приме́рно + number (adverb, no case change)
о́коло	about, around	о́коло + genitive
где́-то	about, roughly (colloquial)	где́-то + number (informal)

Note the difference in government: приме́рно and где́-то are adverbs and leave the number alone, but о́коло is a preposition and forces the following noun into the genitive (о́коло часа́, "about an hour"; о́коло ста рубле́й, "around a hundred roubles").

До це́нтра приме́рно два киломе́тра.

It's about two kilometres to the centre. — приме́рно + number, no case change.

Мы жда́ли о́коло часа́.

We waited about an hour. — о́коло + genitive (час → часа́).

Э́то сто́ит где́-то ты́сячу рубле́й.

It costs about a thousand roubles. — где́-то (informal) for a rough figure.

The distinguishing insight: Russian marks the verdict, not just the amount

English handles "very" and "too" as two unrelated words, and learners often assume Russian о́чень is the all-purpose intensifier. But Russian draws the same line English does — only it's easy to miss because о́чень is taught first and feels universal. The deeper logic is that сли́шком encodes a verdict: the speaker has measured the quantity against a standard and found it over the line. доста́точно encodes the matching positive verdict — at or above the needed line. дово́льно sits in between as a soft, unmeasured "fairly." So this little cluster — сли́шком / доста́точно / дово́льно — is really a scale of judgements (too much / enough / fairly), not just a scale of size. Once you hear them that way, you stop defaulting to о́чень and start choosing the word that carries the right verdict.

Common Mistakes

❌ Э́то о́чень до́рого, я не куплю́.

Weak — о́чень до́рого is just 'very expensive' (neutral); to justify not buying, you need сли́шком до́рого ('too expensive').

✅ Э́то сли́шком до́рого, я не куплю́.

This is too expensive, I won't buy it.

❌ Сего́дня сли́шком тепло́, ку́ртка не нужна́.

Wrong nuance — сли́шком тепло́ means uncomfortably/excessively warm; for 'warm enough' use доста́точно тепло́.

✅ Сего́дня доста́точно тепло́, ку́ртка не нужна́.

It's warm enough today, you don't need a jacket.

❌ Мы жда́ли о́коло час.

Case error — о́коло governs the genitive: о́коло часа́, not о́коло час.

✅ Мы жда́ли о́коло часа́.

We waited about an hour.

❌ Я дово́льно уста́л, не могу́ рабо́тать.

Mismatch — дово́льно ('fairly') understates exhaustion; for 'barely able' use едва́ or сли́шком уста́л ('too tired').

✅ Я сли́шком уста́л, не могу́ рабо́тать.

I'm too tired, I can't work.

Key Takeaways

сли́шком = too / excessively — it signals a problem (over the limit); it is not the same as о́чень.
о́чень до́рого = "very expensive" (neutral); сли́шком до́рого = "too expensive" (a verdict — won't buy).
дово́льно = quite/fairly (degree); доста́точно = enough/sufficiently (measured against a need).
почти́ (almost) → едва́ (barely) → чуть (slightly); практи́чески ≈ почти́, more formal.
Approximation: приме́рно and где́-то (informal) + plain number; о́коло
- genitive.
The cluster сли́шком / доста́точно / дово́льно is a scale of verdicts (too much / enough / fairly), not just of size.

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