Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
~すぎる

~すぎる

~すぎる Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Auxiliary Verb (Group 2)

Essential Meaning: Too X / Over-X

Construction: 

  • Verb ます-Form + すぎる
    • E.g. 話はなしすぎる [X speaks too much]
    • E.g. 食たべすぎる [X eats too much]
  • (い-Adjective / な-Adjective) stem + すぎる
    • E.g. 高たかすぎる [X is too expensive]
    • E.g. 静しずかすぎる [X is too quiet]

Notes:

  • As a main verb, すぎる means “To pass” or “To go beyond some limit“. As an auxiliary verb, it means “To do X excessively“, “To be X excessively“, or “Too X“.
    • E.g. 森もりさんは太ふとりすぎている。[Mori-san is too fat.]
  • With ~すぎる, いい becomes よ and ない becomes なさ.
    • E.g. このアパートはトムにはよすぎる。[This apartment is too good for Tom.]
    • E.g. べんは力ちからがなさすぎる。[Ben has too little power.]
    • E.g. 友子ともこは野菜やさいを食たべなさすぎる。[Tomoko eats too few vegetables.]
  • In a sentence such as “Too X For Y“, “For” is indicated by には.
    • E.g. このアパートは私わたしたちには高たかすぎる。[This apartment is too expensive for us.]
    • E.g. この机つくえは私わたしの部屋へやには大おおきすぎる。[This desk is too big for my room.]
  • ~すぎる conjugates as a Group 2 verb. Thus, the negative form is すぎない, the polite form is すぎます, and the て-Form is すぎて.

Example Sentences:

ウイルソンさんは肉にくを食たべすぎる。[Mr. Wilson eats too much meat.]

このアパートは私わたしたちには高たかすぎる。[This apartment is too expensive for us.]

私わたしは今朝けさ寝過ねすぎて学校がっこうにおくれた。[This morning I slept too much and I was late for school.]

田中たなか先生せんせいの授業じゅぎょうは大変たいへんすぎるのでやめました。[Tanaka-sensei’s course was too demanding, so I quit.]

森もりさんは太ふとりすぎている。[Mori-san is too fat.]

WILD Examples:

At 1:44 the follow line appears: ボロつりざおでつれすぎる。[You are able to catch an excessive number of (Koiking) with an old fishing rod.]
At 1:10, listen for this line: キスから先さきに進すすめない、臆病おくびょうすぎるの [I’m unable to go further than a kiss…because I’m too cowardly.]
Listen to this line at 2:03: 残のこり半分はんぶんて短みじかすぎるね [The remaining half is too short, isn’t it?]
Listen to this line from 2:32: 考かんがえすぎで言葉ことばに詰つまる、自分じぶんの不器用ぶきようさが嫌きらい [I overthink and trip over my words, I hate my awkwardness] In this example, overthinking is the cause of the singer tripping over his words.

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