Negative adjectives with "-si le"
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Level
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Similar to
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Used for
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Keywords
In English, you might use or hear the expression "you scared me to death!" In Chinese, 死了 (sǐle) is used similarly to intensify a negative adjective.
Structure
The "Subject" part below is actually optional, you can still make your over-the-top exclamations without it.
Subj. + Negative adj. + 死了
Note that this structure is a degree complement (called 程度补语 (chéngdù bǔyǔ) in Chinese).
Examples
- 我 饿 死了。It could be read as 'hungry to death' I'm so/terribly hungry!
- 今天 累 死了。It could be read as 'tired to death' I'm so/terribly tired today!
- 热 死了！It could be read as 'hot to death' It's so/terribly hot!
- 这 几 天 忙 死了。It could be read as 'busy to death' It's been so/terribly busy these days!
- 这 件 衣服 丑 死了。It could be read as 'ugly to death' This piece of clothes is so/terribly ugly!
- 你 的 房间 脏 死了。It could be read as 'dirty to death' Your room is so/terribly dirty!
- 吵 死了！It could be read as 'noisy to death' It's so/terribly noisy!
- 这里 的 东西 贵 死了。It could be read as 'expensive to death' The things here are so/terribly expensive!
- 我们 都 急 死了。It could be read as 'anxious to death' We are all so/terribly anxious!
- 这 个 小孩 烦 死了。It could be read as 'annoying to death' 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
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
