A2
すぎる — too much
How すぎる marks excess in Japanese, what it attaches to in each word class, and why it is not simply an intensifier.
すぎる means exceed, and attached to another word it marks going too far.
食べすぎました。
Tabesugimashita.
I ate too much.
この靴は大きすぎます。
Kono kutsu wa ōkisugimasu.
These shoes are too big.
What it attaches to
Verbs lose ます; い-adjectives lose い; な-adjectives lose な. The result is a る-verb and conjugates as one.
| 飲みます → 飲みすぎる | drink too much |
| 高い → 高すぎる | too expensive |
| 静か → 静かすぎる | too quiet |
いい is irregular here as everywhere: よすぎる.
It is always negative
This is the part English speakers overshoot. Too in English can be enthusiastic — it was too good. すぎる cannot. It says something has passed the point where it was acceptable, and it never means very.
この映画は面白すぎました。
この映画はとても面白かったです。
面白すぎる says the film was excessively interesting — a complaint. For praise the word is とても or 本当に.
In casual speech among friends this rule bends, and 美味しすぎる is used the way English uses insanely good. It is slang, and it does not travel upwards.
As a noun
The stem alone works as a noun: 食べすぎ, 飲みすぎ, 働きすぎ.
働きすぎですよ。
Hatarakisugi desu yo.
You’re working too hard.