Difference between revisions of "Negative adjectives with "-si le""

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We might say things in English like "you scared me ''to death!''". One way to intensify negative adjectives is to put 死了 (sǐle) after them. To express the opposite you would use [[Positive adjectives with "-ji le"|极了]].
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We might say things in English like "you scared me ''to death!''". One way to intensify negative adjectives is to put 死了 (sǐle) after them. To express the opposite you would use [[Positive adjectives with "-ji le"|极了 (jíle)]].
  
 
== Structure ==
 
== Structure ==

Revision as of 09:15, 12 June 2014

We might say things in English like "you scared me to death!". One way to intensify negative adjectives is to put 死了 (sǐle) after them. To express the opposite you would use 极了 (jíle).

Structure

The "Subject" part below is actually optional; you can also make your over-the-top exclamations without it.

Subject + Negative adjective + 死了

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

Examples

  • 饿 死了It could be read as 'hungry to death' I'm so/terribly hungry!
  • 难看 死了It could be read as 'ugly to death' He's so/terribly ugly!
  • 死了It could be read as 'fat to death' You're so/terribly fat!
  • 死了It could be read as 'hot to death' It's so/terribly hot!
  • 这里 的 东西 死了It could be read as 'expensive to death' The things here are so/terribly expensive!
  • 死了It could be read as 'cold to death' It's so/terribly cold!
  • 今天 死了It could be read as 'tired to death' I'm so/terribly tired today!
  • 我 快 死了It could be read as 'busy to death' I'm so/terribly busy!
  • 死了It could be read as 'anxious to death' I'm so/terribly anxious!
  • 死了It could be read as 'slow to death' You're so/terribly slow!

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

Sources and further reading

Books