Structure
Verb[ます]+ すぎる
[い]Adjective[い]+ すぎる
[な]Adjective + すぎる
Negative:
Verb[ない]+ なさ(1) + すぎる
[い]Adjective [ない] + なさ + すぎる
[な]Adjective + では(2)ない + なさ + すぎる
(1) な
(2) じゃ
Details
Part of Speech
Verb
Word Type
Independent Word
Register
Standard
品詞
動詞
単語の種類
自立語
使用域
一般
About すぎる
- 頑張りすぎるのは身体に良くない。Working too hard is not good for your health.
- これは熱すぎるよ。This is way too hot.
- 俺には田舎は静かすぎる。For me, the countryside is way too quiet.
- この犬、可愛すぎ!This dog is too cute!
As with regular ない forms, では or じゃ will be required when used after な-Adjectives.
- あの人は私のタイプじゃなさすぎる。That person is DEFINITELY not my type. (Literally 'they are too much not my type')
- 私はお金がなさすぎる。I don't have enough money. (Literally 'I have too much of no money')
- この店は商品がなすぎる。This store does not have enough goods. (This store has too much of nothing)
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.
- この歌は良すぎる。This song is too good.
- 学校に行かなさすぎるから成績が落ちた。Because I don't go to school enough, my grades are going down. (Literally, I don't go too much)
- 彼はトイレに行かなさすぎない。He doesn't not go to the toilet enough. (A double negative that becomes positive)
- ゲームセンターには行きすぎないでね。Don't go to the arcade too often. (The negative focus is on 'too much', and sounds more like a request)
Synonyms
Examples
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.
アイスクリームを食べすぎたからお腹が痛い。
Because I ate too much ice cream, my stomach hurts.
その冗談は面白くなさすぎた。
That joke was not very funny.
いつも週末に寝すぎます。
I always sleep too much on the weekends.
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すぎる – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (49 in total)
nekoyama
About 9 months ago
I’m also not sure, because the English translation is ambiguous. But the Japanese means “did too much not-sleeping” = “I slept too little”.
Whereas
means “I didn’t do too much sleeping” = “I did not oversleep”.
There also are some issues with how you’re using ください.
Cube2000
About 9 months ago
Ahh gotcha, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the reply.
I kinda threw those 下さい examples in at the last moment since the one review example stumped me for a bit (お菓子を食べすぎないでください。). I didn’t realize the specific example also contains a footnote that clarified some of my confusions.
simias
About 3 months ago
I thoroughly enjoy your explanations in this thread (and in general), I went here to ask questions about this なさ construct and they’re already all answered!
Beyond そう and すぎる, are there other grammatical constructions that change the negative ない to なさ? I keep forgetting this little irregularity and I’m trying to see if I can come up with some underlying logic for it, even though there doesn’t appear to be any…
That 冗談は面白くなさすぎた example sentence is tricky, but it’s very useful to drill this point.
Honestly I almost wish that the negative form (and that of そう) was given a dedicated entry just so that you could review this なさ irregularity on its own.
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