Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 8: 7/13

過(す)ぎるToo much, Very

良すぎる = よすぎる, not いすぎる or よさすぎる

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［く］［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

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 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)'.

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 technically not correct Japanese, but has become very common among young people, so it still sounds natural.

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.

  • 学校(がっこう)に行(い)かなさすぎるから成績(せいせき)が落(お)ちた。
    Because I don't go to school enough, my grades are going down. (Literally, I don't go too much)
  • 彼(かれ)はトイレに行(い)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(い)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)

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

--:--

    ここはゴミが多(おお)すぎる。

    There is too much garbage here.

    この寿司(すし)は美味(おい)しすぎる。[美味(おい)しい]

    This sushi is too delicious.

      この寿司(すし)は美味(おい)しすぎる。

      This sushi is too delicious.

      その冗談(じょうだん)は面白(おもしろ)くなさすぎた。

      That joke was not funny at all.
      (Literally - Was too much not funny)

      いつも週末(しゅうまつ)に寝(ね)すぎます。

      I always sleep too much on the weekends.

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        すぎる – Grammar Discussion

        Most Recent Replies (59 in total)

        • Alphaz

          Alphaz

          I only learned this grammar point today, but glad to see there’s so many posts in this discussion. I read the lesson and was certain this will be by far the hardest grammar point for me to learn. A lot of sentences with previous grammar felt natural, but here it just doesn’t make sense in my brain.
          I guess with enough exposure things will work out, but this looks scary.

        • Kattosan

          Kattosan

          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)

          彼は = He
          トイレに = To the toilet
          行かな = to not go
          さすぎない = to not be enough

          So this sentence would mean “He does go to the bathroom enough”? Since the assumption that the double negative made it positive.

          Sorry if this question is dumb, but English is not my first language and seeing a double negative in Japanese kind of threw me off.

        • simias

          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.

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