Negative adjectives with "-si le"

In English, you might use the expression "you scared me to death!" In Chinese, 死了 (sǐle) 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.

Subj. + Negative Adj. + 死了

This structure is technically a kind of degree complement.

Examples

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

None of these sentences actually refer 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 (sǐle) is only for adjectives with negative connotations, while positive connotations use a similar degree complement, 极了 (jíle). In recent years, however, it's become quite popular to also use -死了 (sǐle) with positive adjectives:

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

See also

• Degree complement
• Adjectival complement "de hen"
• Positive adjectives with "-ji le"

Sources and further reading

Books

• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (p. 104) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (p. 139) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (p. 105) →buy
• Yufa! (p. 106) →buy