I got the “That joke was not funny at all” sentence in a review and answered with “その冗談はぜんぜんおもしろくなかった”. Seeing the “[lit. too much not funny]” hint should’ve been enough to make me realize that isn’t what the exercise was looking for, but would that still be a valid translation? Is there a difference in nuance between the two?
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Hey,
It would work, meaning something along “not funny at all.”
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By the way, if you want to get exactly the same meaning you can say:
その冗談は、余りにも面白くなかった。
(too much not funny)
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Does anyone happen to have a source that explains why ない becomes なさ when すぎる is used?
I don’t believe I’ve seen this pattern anywhere else, and I’d like to understand if this is truly a one-off, or if it’s part of a deeper (even if antiquated) pattern.
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I’ve noticed that the さ doesn’t seem required in すぎる:
Is it also not required in そう? It’s one of the most annoying ghosts for me :3
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Can there be a bit more elaboration on:
その冗談は おもしろくなさすぎた
From what I understand おもしろい gets turned into おもしろく and then you add な to mean in general “Not interesting” and combined with すぎた, the past tense of too much. (Was too much not interesting) So what is the purpose of さ? It doesn’t seem to be conjugated from either interesting OR too much. I’ve been looking around so sorry if I missed an explanation.
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@Aarix
Hey 
If you have a negative adjective or standalone ない, then you change it to なさ and then add すぎる.
A similar thing applies to そう(though there are some differences like 良さそうだ is correct, while in case of すぎる only 良すぎる is used.)
Examples:
判断材料がなさすぎる。There is too little evidence. (standalone ない, 判断材料がない)
面白くなさすぎる。too much of not being funny (negative adjective, 面白くない)
Generally, it was used with negative forms of adjectives and ない, but people started using it with negative forms of verbs too:
知らなさすぎる
No one really knows why it happens, but according to one hypothesis it is added to add more strength when a word is too short. People just use it this way.
So:
面白い→面白くない→面白くなさ→面白くなさすぎる→面白くなさすぎた
I hope it helps,
Cheers!
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Really appreciate the detail explanation! That helps a lot. I was probably confusing it with some sentences that you just add な to such as at the end. It’s a good sentence to remember a few grammar points at once.
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Hi, I have a question about this example:
この寿司は___。[美味しい]
It looks like there are two correct answers: おいしすぎる and おいしすぎ.
Is the latter just an abbreviation, or do they have different meanings?
すぎ is the stem form of すぎる. Grammatically, it acts like a noun, so it’s not an abbreviation, but the structure of this particular sentence happens to fit both. すぎ is often used in this way; the meaning is the same.
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Thanks! I figured that was it, but I’m just having trouble understanding how the grammar functions differently with すぎる acting as a verb compared to a noun. I think I’m having difficulty figuring out what’s going on because “too” is a adverb in English but すぎる is a verb.
I think I understand この寿司は美味しすぎる。
But for this sentence, この寿司は美味しすぎ。, because すぎ is acting as a noun, would it also be correct to say この寿司は美味しすぎです。?
Why is it ok to use すぎる/すぎ in this case but not in others?
I’m just confused 
I’m a bit confused by the following example sentences:
この寿司（すし）は美味（おい）し すぎる 。
This sushi is too delicious.
その絵（え）は綺麗（きれい） すぎる。
That picture is very beautiful.
According to Genki, 過ぎる usually isn’t used in a complimentary way:
“You use 過ぎる when something is beyond normal or proper, suggesting that you do not welcome it. Thus 親切すぎる (too kind) for example it not a straightforward compliment.”
I’ve counterchecked it with Tae Kim’s and A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar and couldn’t find an example like the two sentences above.
I guess, the complimentary usage is more casually/slangy (?).
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I came here to ask the same as @febLey, having just read the same in Genki.
I also assume it’s casual/slang, but could anyone with more experience weigh in?
I still cant seem to grasp what the difference is between verbs in negative form using すぎる:
I see both forms in different places, including here between the description and example sentances:
(verb)なさすぎる or
(verb stem)すぎない
is the first: “too much not”, i.e not enough
is the second: “dont too much” i.e dont do too much of that (verb)
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why use negative form when you can just use すぎない at the end?
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I believe this would change the meaning. For instance, I think 重くなさすぎる would be like “too much not heavy,” which would imply an object is not heavy or even lightweight since it surpasses at being not heavy. However, 重すぎない would be more akin to “not too heavy,” which would mean that the object is still heavy, but just not too heavy to do some action with, such as carrying it.
This is just my take on it though, so I’m not 100% sure.
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There is a difference(I will use 食べる as an example):
食べ過ぎない
is used in negative questions or when telling someone to not eat too much, mostly as:
食べすぎない？ (aren’t you (X) eating too much?)
食べすぎないようにする (try ones best to not eat too much)(try ones best not to overeat)
食べすぎないように (so that one won’t eat too much)
On the other hand, 食べなさすぎる means that someone barely eats something, eats too little, does not eat very much.
I hope it helps,
Cheers!
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Is it grammatically correct for すぎる to follow a noun?
For example, there is an example sentence:
アイスクリームを食べすぎたからお腹が痛い。
Could you instead say this as:
アイスクリームすぎるのを食べたからお腹が痛い。
The meaning section only mentions verb, い, な, but since な adjectives are technically nouns I’d assume they work pretty much the same here.
I thought your second one was strange but I checked with someone in the office just now just to be safe.
No, すぎる can’t follow a noun, but it can follow an adjective, so you can say something like 脂っこすぎるものを食べたからお腹が痛い (I ate something that was too greasy so I have a stomachache. (脂っこい is the adjective in the sentence).
When I said アイスクリームすぎる people in the office laughed 
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