Negative adjectives with "-si le"

In English, you might use or hear 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。It could be read as 'hungry to death' Wǒ è sǐle! I'm so/terribly hungry!
• 今天 累 死了。It could be read as 'tired to death' Jīntiān lèi sǐle! I'm so/terribly tired today!
• 热 死了！It could be read as 'hot to death' Rè sǐle! It's so/terribly hot!
• 这 几 天 忙 死了。It could be read as 'busy to death' Zhè jǐ tiān máng sǐle! It's been so/terribly busy these days!
• 这 件 衣服 丑 死了。It could be read as 'ugly to death' Zhè jiàn yīfu chǒu sǐle! This piece of clothes is so/terribly ugly!
• 你 的 房间 脏 死了。It could be read as 'dirty to death' Nǐ de fángjiān zāng sǐle! Your room is so/terribly dirty!
• 吵 死了！It could be read as 'noisy to death' Chǎo sǐle! It's so/terribly noisy!
• 这里 的 东西 贵 死了。It could be read as 'expensive to death' Zhèlǐ de dōngxī guì sǐle! The things here are so/terribly expensive!
• 我们 都 急 死了。It could be read as 'anxious to death'Wǒmen dōu jí sǐle! We are all so/terribly anxious!
• 这 个 小孩 烦 死了。It could be read as 'annoying to death' Zhè ge xiǎohái fán sǐle! This kid so/terribly annoying!

None of these sentences actually refer to someone dying, instead the word 死了 (sǐle) and the structure is simply used to intensify an adjective. Notice how these are awkward to translate into English - 死了 (sǐle) is much more versatile than the English expression "to death."

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