Too Much: すぎる

To say something is “too much” or “too small” or that we drank “too much” and so forth, we use the verb 過すぎる.

Adjectives

For i-adjectives we remove the い and add すぎる.

高たかすぎる。

Too high/expensive.

Once すぎる is attached, the entire word functions as a regular Group 2 (ru-verb). This means you can conjugate it into the te-form (すぎて), past tense (すぎた), or polite form (すぎます). Note that the subject of the adjective still takes the が particle.

怖こわすぎる。

Too scary.

映画えいがが怖こわすぎて、最後さいごまで見みられなかった。

The movie was too scary so I couldn’t watch until the end.

パソコンが高たかすぎて買かいませんでした。

The computer was too expensive so I didn’t buy it.

For na-adjectives we just add すぎる without the auxiliary verb or な particle.

複雑ふくざつすぎる。

Too complicated.

この数学すうがくの問題もんだいが複雑ふくざつすぎるから、明日あしたは先生せんせいに聞ききます。

This math problem is too complicated so I’ll ask the teacher tomorrow.

Verbs

For verbs we need to use the verb stem.

昨日きのうは飲のみ過すぎて、頭あたまが痛いたいですよ。

I drank too much yesterday—my head hurts!

Exceptions (Important for JLPT)

There are two highly common irregulars that frequently appear as trick questions on the JLPT. For いい (good) and ない (not), an extra さ is added before すぎる.

このパソコンは良よさすぎる。

This computer is too good.

時間じかんがなさすぎる。

There is too little time. (Literally: There is too much of “no time”).