too good

[navi]

1) They are too good people to do something like that.
2) They are too good of people to do something like that.

Which, if either, is correct?'
I suspect both are wrong?

Gratefully,
Navi

[Bobinwales]

Both are very wrong.

1) is bad, 2) is dreadful.

[Phil White]

The only way of using the construction that I can think of is in the singular:
"He is too good a person to do something like that."

Logically, the construction should also work in the plural as well, but it doesn't.

[trolley]

That's odd. I always thought that the construction "too good of a person" sounded more "proper" and that "too good a person" was informal. Turns out, it's the other way around (if you believe that "of" can be used at all, in these circumstances.) I didn't even realize there was a debate on whether it is just unnecessary or actually incorrect until I looked it up.

[Erik_Kowal]

In my observation, the "of a" construction is prevalent in North America, and the naked "a" construction is more common here in the UK. But these are norms with exceptions, so as far as I'm concerned, have at it whichever way you wanna say it.

[Phil White]

For me as a Brit, "too good of a person" is simply too much of a good thing.