Negative adjectives with "-si le"

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In English, you might use the expression "you scared me to death!" In Chinese, 死了 (sǐ le) is used similarly to intensify an adjective with an unpleasant connotation.

Structure

The "Subject" part below is actually optional, you can still make your over-the-top exclamations without it.

Adj. + 死了

This structure is technically a kind of degree complement.

Examples

  • 我 饿 死了。Literally, "hungry to death"Wǒ è sǐ le! I'm starving!
  • 今天 累 死了。Literally, "tired to death"Jīntiān lèi sǐ le! Today was so exhausting!
  • 热 死了！Literally, "hot to death"Rè sǐ le! It's ridiculously hot!
  • 这 几 天 忙 死了。Literally, "busy to death" Zhè jǐ tiān máng sǐ le! It's been so terribly busy these days!
  • 这 件 衣服 丑 死了。Literally, "ugly to death"Zhè jiàn yīfu chǒu sǐ le! This clothing is totally hideous!
  • 你 的 房间 脏 死了。Literally, "dirty to death"Nǐ de fángjiān zāng sǐ le! Your room is absolutely filthy!
  • 吵 死了！Literally, "noisy to death"Chǎo sǐ le! It's so terribly noisy!
  • 这里 的 东西 贵 死了。Literally, "expensive to death"Zhèlǐ de dōngxi guì sǐ le! The things here are criminally expensive!
  • 我们 都 急 死了。Literally, "anxious to death"Wǒmen dōu jí sǐ le! We are all so terribly anxious!
  • 这个 孩子 烦 死了。Literally, "annoying to death"Zhège háizi fán sǐ le! This kid is so freaking annoying!

None of these sentences actually refers to someone dying. Instead the word 死了 (sǐ le) and the structure is simply used to intensify an adjective. Notice how these are awkward to translate into English; the translations above took a number of different angles to create the same impact as -死了 (sǐ le) does in Chinese. You might say that -死了 (sǐ le) is much more versatile in Chinese than the English expression "to death."

For Positive Connotations

Traditionally, -死了 (sǐ le) is only for adjectives with negative connotations, while positive connotations use a similar degree complement, 极了 (jí le). In recent years, however, it's become quite popular to also use -死了 (sǐ le) with positive adjectives:

  • 哇，可爱 死了 ！Literally, "cute to death"Wā, kě'ài sǐ le! OMG, adorbs!
  • 漂亮 死了 ！Literally, "pretty to death"Piàoliang sǐ le! Drop-dead gorgeous!
  • 这 个 蛋糕 好吃 死了 。Literally, "delicious to death"Zhège dàngāo hǎochī sǐ le! This cake is to die for!

See also

Sources and further reading

Books

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