Say something is too much (すぎる)
Attach the auxiliary verb すぎる to verb stems or adjective bases to express that an action or quality crosses an acceptable threshold, creating an unwanted excess.
Expressing Excess or Crossing the Line (〜すぎる)
karee o tabesugimashita
I ate too much curry.
〜すぎる (Unwanted Excess) vs とても (Simple High Degree)
Micro-Shiftお腹が痛いです。昨日 食べすぎました。
Crossing a healthy or acceptable limit, usually resulting in regretMy stomach hurts. I ate too much yesterday.
〜すぎる indicates that an action went beyond proper limits, carrying negative nuance.
Example Sentences
I drank too much coffee.
How it works
Verb stem 飲み compounds with excess auxiliary すぎました to indicate an unhealthy or excessive degree.
I ate too much curry.
Mental Model: Crossing the Threshold of Moderation
すぎる derives from the autonomous verb 過ぎる (to pass by / exceed). When attached as a suffix to another word, it means that an action or physical attribute has crossed the line of comfort, safety, or reason:
- The Emotional Tone: In standard Japanese, 〜すぎる carries a predominantly negative nuance of excess, discomfort, or regret: たくさん食べました = “I ate a lot (and I'm satisfied!).” vs 食べすぎました = “I ate too much (and now my stomach hurts!).”
Connection Formulas Across Word Classes
Attaching すぎる requires preparing the core stem of the word:
- Verbs (ます-stem + すぎる): Drop ます from the polite form and attach すぎる: 食べます → 食べすぎる (“eat too much”) · 飲みます → 飲みすぎる (“drink too much”) · 働きます → 働きすぎる (“overwork”).
- い-Adjectives (Drop い + すぎる): Remove the final い syllable and attach すぎる: 高い → 高すぎる (“too expensive / too tall”) · 辛い → 辛すぎる (“too spicy”) · 難しい → 難しすぎる (“too difficult”).
- な-Adjectives (Bare Stem + すぎる): Drop な and attach すぎる directly to the noun stem: 静か → 静かすぎる (“too quiet / eerily silent”) · 簡単 → 簡単すぎる (“too easy / trivial”).
- The Irregular Outlier: いい (Good) As with all conjugations, いい reverts to its classical root よい: drop い from よい → よすぎる (“too good / suspiciously good”).
Conjugating 〜すぎる as an Ichidan (Group 2) Verb
Once すぎる attaches to a stem, the entire compound functions grammatically as an Ichidan (Group 2) verb:
- Polite Present: 食べすぎます (“eat too much”)
- Polite Past: 食べすぎました (“ate too much”)
- Te-Form (Reason & Consequence): Using 〜すぎて is the most common way to explain why something went wrong: 昨日、飲みすぎて、頭が 痛いです。 (“Because I drank too much yesterday, my head hurts.”)
- Plain Past: 高すぎた (“was too expensive”)
Conjugation
| Base form | Conjugated | Form |
|---|---|---|
| 食べる | 食べすぎます | eat → eat too much |
| 飲む | 飲みすぎます | drink → drink too much |
| 高い | 高すぎます | expensive → too expensive |
| 辛い | 辛すぎます | spicy → too spicy |
In Dialogue
- Ken
顔色が悪いよ。どうしたの？
You look pale! What happened?
Maru
Tips and Common Traps
Quick Check
Select the correct form to say: ‘Because I drank too much coffee last night, I could not sleep.’