GrammarJLPT N5
すぎる
→ to pass through
Too Much / To Exceed / To Pass
JLPT N5SuffixNeutral
The grammar point 過ぎる（すぎる） has two major uses in Japanese. As an independent verb, it means "to pass" or "to go past" in terms of time or physical location — for example, a bus passing a stop or time passing by. As a suffix attached to verbs, adjectives, and nouns, すぎる expresses the idea of "too much" or "excessively," indicating that something has gone beyond an appropriate or desirable degree. When used as a suffix, it is usually written in kana alone. As a suffix, it attaches to the masu-stem of verbs (e.g., 食べ + すぎる), the stem of い-adjectives (dropping the final い), or the stem of な-adjectives (without な). Because すぎる is itself an ichidan verb, once attached it conjugates like any other ichidan verb — すぎます, すぎた, すぎない, etc. This makes it extremely productive and commonly encountered at the N4 level and beyond. The suffix use is far more frequent in everyday conversation than the standalone verb meaning "to pass," though both are important to know.
Functions
#1 Expressing excess with verbs (doing too much)
Structure
Verb (masu-stem) + すぎる
ゆうべ、お酒を飲みすぎました。
Here すぎる is attached to the masu-stem of 飲む (to drink) to create 飲みすぎる, meaning "to drink too much." The sentence conveys that the speaker exceeded a reasonable amount of drinking. Since すぎる is an ichidan verb, it is conjugated into the polite past form すぎました. This is one of the most common patterns and is used frequently to describe overdoing an action.Last night, I drank too much alcohol.
Structures
- Verb (too much)
- Verb (masu-stem) + すぎる
- い-Adjective (too ~)
- い-Adjective (drop い) + すぎる
- な-Adjective (too ~)
- な-Adjective stem + すぎる
- Independent verb (to pass)
- Noun (time/place) + が / を + 過ぎる
Common mistakes
A very common mistake is attaching すぎる to the wrong form of the word. For verbs, learners sometimes use the dictionary form (e.g., 食べるすぎる) or the て-form instead of the masu-stem; the correct form is 食べすぎる. For い-adjectives, a frequent error is keeping the final い (e.g., 高いすぎる instead of 高すぎる). Another mistake is confusing the suffix use with the independent verb use — the suffix meaning "too much" is usually written in kana (すぎる), while the independent verb meaning "to pass" is often written with kanji (過ぎる). Finally, some learners try to use すぎる with negative adjective forms like よくない, but the correct way to say "not good enough" or "too bad" typically uses the positive stem: よすぎる (too good) or combines with なさすぎる for "too little/not enough."
Related
すぎ (noun form)〜てしまう〜たら〜のにあまり〜ない〜から