"too big a" vs "a too big" [duplicate]

Here is the sentence I'm having a trouble with:

... a world that seems too big a place for any individual to contribute something unique.

Why does it say "too big a" and not "a too big"?

I apologize if something like this has been asked before but I didn't even know how to search for this.

Solution 1:

I am not sure if this answers your question, but 'too big a place' is much more poetical- a better expression than 'a too big place'. The word 'too' rarely, if ever, has the article 'a' preceding it. For example, 'That was too big a piece of pie' is correct, but 'That was a too big piece of pie' sounds funny to me. Hope this helps!