Negative adjectives with "-si le"

In English, you might use 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

  • 饿 死了Literally, "hungry to death"è sǐle! I'm starving!
  • 今天 死了Literally, "tired to death"Jīntiān lèi sǐle! Today was so exhausting!
  • 死了Literally, "hot to death" sǐle! It's ridiculously hot!
  • 这 几 天 死了Literally, "busy to death" Zhè jǐ tiān máng sǐle! It's been so terribly busy these days!
  • 这 件 衣服 死了Literally, "ugly to death"Zhè jiàn yīfu chǒu sǐle! This piece of clothing is totally hideous!
  • 你 的 房间 死了Literally, "dirty to death"Nǐ de fángjiān zāng sǐle! Your room is absolutely filthy!
  • 死了Literally, "noisy to death"Chǎo sǐle! It's so terribly noisy!
  • 这里 的 东西 死了Literally, "expensive to death"Zhèlǐ de dōngxī guì sǐle! The things here are criminally expensive!
  • 我们 都 死了Literally, "anxious to death"Wǒmen dōu sǐle! We are all so terribly anxious!
  • 这 个 小孩 死了Literally, "annoying to death"Zhè ge xiǎohái fán sǐle! This kid is so freaking annoying!

None of these sentences actually refer to someone dying, instead the word 死了 (sǐ le) and the structure is simply used to intensify an adjective. Notice how these are awkward to translate into English; the translations above took a number of different angles to create the same impact as -死了 (sǐ le) does in Chinese. You might say that -死了 (sǐ le) is much more versatile in Chinese than the English expression "to death."

For Positive Connotations

Traditionally, -死了 (sǐle) is only for adjectives with negative connotations, while positive connotations use a similar degree complement, 极了 (jíle). In recent years, however, it's become quite popular to also use -死了 (sǐle) with positive adjectives:

  • 哇 , 可爱 死了Literally, "cute to death"Wā, kě'ài sǐle! OMG, adorbs!
  • 漂亮 死了Literally, "pretty to death"Piàoliang sǐle! Drop-dead gorgeous!
  • 这 个 蛋糕 好吃 死了Literally, "delicious to death"Zhè ge dàngāo hǎochī sǐle! This cake is to die for!

See also

Sources and further reading

Books