Structure
Verb[stem]+ すぎる
[い]Adjective[い]+ すぎる
[な]Adjective + すぎる
Negative:
Verb[ない]+ な(1) + すぎる
[い]Adjective[く][ない] + なさ + すぎる
[な]Adjective + では(2)ない + なさ + すぎる
(1) なさ
(2) じゃ
Details
Part of Speech
Verb
Word Type
Independent Word
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Standard
About すぎる
すぎる is a verb that is used in Japanese to mean 'to exceed', or 'to go past'. It keeps this meaning when it is attached to other words, and creates the Japanese equivalent of saying that something is 'too much'. すぎる can be joined to the ます stem of verbs, the stem form of い-Adjectives (simply remove the い), or the stem form of な-Adjectives (simply remove the な).
With すぎる, the る is regularly omitted, with すぎ being used by itself. This is a casual language pattern, and something you will hear all the time. This variation may be used with any word that すぎる would usually be used with.
There are a few rules that you will need to be careful about when using すぎる. The first of these unique rules is using すぎる with ない. When linked to ない, the い-Adjective, the い changes to さ, creating the structure なさすぎる. This means 'too much not (A)', or more naturally in English 'not enough (A)'. However, when the auxiliary verb version of ない follows verbs, the さ is not used, resulting in なすぎる. Despite this, さ may sometimes be included following verbs in slangy Japanese.
As with regular ない forms, では or じゃ will be required when used after な-Adjectives.
In the third example here, we can see that the さ has been omitted. This is not correct Japanese, as the さ will always be required when ない is functioning as an い-Adjective.
The second unique rule is when using すぎる with いい to mean 'too good'. Because すぎる is used with the stem form of い-Adjectives, you will need to remember that the stem form of いい is not actually い, but よ. This means that よすぎる would be correct, while いすぎる is not.
Caution
Because すぎる itself is a verb, it can also appear in the negative form, this confuses a lot of learners, and is something that needs to be practiced. Let's have a look at all of the ways that すぎる could possibly appear with ない.
Because the meaning is different in each one of these sentences, depending on where the ない is, and how many ない's there are, you may need to be careful while reading these, until it starts to feel natural.
Related
Examples
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ここはゴミが多すぎる。
There is too much garbage here.
この寿司は美味しすぎる。
This sushi is too delicious.
その冗談は面白くなさすぎた。
That joke was not funny at all.
(Literally - Was too much not funny)
いつも週末に寝すぎます。
I always sleep too much on the weekends.
漢字を書きすぎたから、手が痛い。
Because I wrote too much kanji, my hand hurts.
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すぎる – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (61 in total)
simias
I’m also not a native speaker of English and that is indeed a pretty weird example as far as I can tell. I can’t quite imagine when something like that would be said. But I do think that your interpretation is correct.
PapaYeti
I’m sorry if this is beating a dead horse, but I’m unclear on whether negative verbs get な or なさ before 過ぎる. The structure block implies either is acceptable but な is preferred, but the exercise is only correct with なさ. Can someone explain this?
Asher
Hi there, and thanks for posting on the forums! There are 2 versions of ない, one that functions as an auxiliary verb and attaches to verbs, and one that functions as an い-Adjective.
The one that follows verbs (the auxiliary verb) does not usually take さ, but a lot of people do use it in casual speech.
The one that follows adjectives (the い-Adjective) always takes さ.
Could you please let me know which exercise did not accept only な? The only verb I could see with this structure was 寝なさすぎる, and that one already has 寝なすぎる as an alternative answer.
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