Expressing "excessively" with "tai"

The simplest structure for expressing too or too much in Chinese is:

太 + Adjective + 了

As in English, this can express that something really is excessive, or can colloquially express the meaning of so or very. You can easily form sentences with this structure:

Subject + 太 + Adjective + 了

Some examples:

太 ... 了 sentences

Subject	太	Adjective	了
盒子	太	重	了	。
米饭	太	少	了	。
雪	太	多	了	。
你	太	好	了	。
他	太	高	了	。
小猫	太	可爱	了	。

By negating this structure, you can express the meaning of not so much or not very. Just put 不 in front of 太:

Subject + 不 + 太 + Adjective + 了

Some examples:

Negative 太 ... 了 sentences

Subject	不	太	Adjective	了
我	不	太	高兴	了	。
他	不	太	好看	了	。	你	不	太	友好	了	。

See also

• Positive adjectives with "-ji le"
• The "zui" superlative
• Special verbs with "hen"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (pp. 180-1)　→buy