Negative adjectives with "-si le"

We might say things in English like "you scared me to death!". In Chinese, you can say a lot of things "to death" to negatively intensify what you want to say. The opposite is to use Positive adjectives with "-ji le".

Structure

One way to intensify negative adjectives is to put 死了 (sǐle) after them. This is very similar to the phrase "to death" in English.

Subject + Negative adjective + 死了

Note that this structure is a degree complement (called 程度补语 in Chinese).

Examples

• 我 饿 死了。
• 他 难看 死了。
• 你 胖 死了！

None of these sentences involves someone actually dying. As with "to death" in English, this structure simply intensifies the adjective. Notice how these are awkward to translate into English - 死了 is a lot more versatile than "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) (pp. 104) →buy