[Common Mistakes] すぎる often used in negative evaluations.

Today I am going to share the homework correction quoted from my JLPT N3 course!
The student’s sentence is not correct. Can you find the mistake?

[Student’s sentence]

このケーキは、甘すぎておいしいです。

*このけーきは、あますぎておいしいです。

 



 

[My correction]

このケーキは、甘すぎておいしいです。
→このケーキは、とても甘くておいしいです。
This cake is very sweet and delicious.

すぎる often used when the degree of something is large in a negative way.
But you say “this cake is delicious” and that is not meant to be negative.
So you should use とても instead of すぎる. とても indicates that the degree of something is large without any positive or negative evaluation.

e.g.
このケーキは、甘すぎて全部(ぜんぶ)食(た)べられません。
I can’t eat all of this cake because it is too sweet.

田中(たなか)さんの家(いえ)は、とても大(おお)きいです。
Tanaka-san’s house is very big.

この家(いえ)は一人(ひとり)で住(す)むには大(おお)きすぎます
This house is too big for one person to live in.

 

 

I hope my explanation helps you. 😊

 

In the JLPT course, all lessons come with homework, if you submit your homework, I will reply with corrections.
I can break down the Japanese grammar and point out mistakes, explaining the structure and nuances of Japanese in an easy-to-understand way.
You can also ask me any questions as much as you want. I will teach you until you get it!

 

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