N5 Topics
L8: Too Much of a Good Thing?
Learn to talk about extremes with すぎる and understand more about Japanese compound verbs
Too Much of a Good Thing?
In this Topic, we're going to learn about how the verb すぎる is used as a kind of suffix, to mean that something is 'too much'. With this, we'll be able to better express our opinions, giving them more variety and emphasis.
In the details section, we'll also discuss how adding a regular verb to other verbs is quite common in Japanese, as a way to make new compound verbs.
Grammar in this Topic
すぎる
Too much, Very
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.
Details
Let's take a closer look at how regular verbs are often used in conjunction with others to create compound words.
It’s All Too Much
As mentioned on the grammar point page, すぎる is a regular verb (meaning 'to go past') which can then be attached to another verb's stem form to create a compound verb. This sort of compounding is very common and very handy in Japanese. At higher levels, we will learn some of the other most useful verbs used in this way, but for now, let's take a peek ahead.
始める is a verb meaning 'to begin', and 終わる is a verb meaning 'to end'. Just like すぎる, they can be used with the stem form of other verbs to create new compound verbs.
Some other common examples of this phenomenon are 合う, meaning 'to come together' or 'to match', and 切る, meaning 'to cut'. 合う is used in compounds to mean 'to do mutually' or 'to do reciprocally', while 切る adds the meaning of 'to do completely'.
It is also common for no kanji to be used when verbs are used in compounds like this, to make it clearer the meaning is not necessarily literal. This is not always the case though.
As we will learn about all these specific verbs at higher levels, there is no need to precisely remember them. The main takeaway for now is that this sort of compound verb is quite common in Japanese.
Specialすぎる
すぎる has a special feature which sets it apart from the other compound verbs we've seen in this Topic. Namely, すぎる can also be directly attached to the stem of adjectives. This is special to すぎる, so we can’t apply the same logic to other regular compound verbs.
Camping Weather
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たつき：「まだ空が暗いね。」
めい：「今朝の天気予報で昼から晴れるって言ったから大丈夫だよ！」
たつき：「そうだね。晴れてから林を散歩する？まず火を点けるね。」
めい：「うん！車から椅子とテーブルを取るね。」
たつき：「ビールもお願い！」
めい：「はーい！」
めい：「晴れたね！よかった！湖が綺麗すぎるよ。」
たつき：「本当だ！あの天気予報、当たりすぎるね。前も午後から雨ですって言った日、僕はそれが当たらないと思って傘を持たなかったんだよ。カフェで宿題をして家に帰る時、本当に雨が降ったんだ。」
めい：「そうなの？それはたつきが悪いね。」
たつき：「その時は当たらないと思ったんだよ〜。」