LLearn Japanese

食べすぎない vs 食べなさすぎる

Been studying some grammar points and this one confused me:

～すぎない vs ～なさすぎる

食べすぎない vs 食べなさすぎる

Both seem to mean “don’t eat too much”.

It seems like if there is any meaning difference it is what the ない is modifying…

* 食べすぎない eat not too much
* 食べなさすぎる not eat too much

Do these mean the same thing or no?

6 comments

  1. Never heard of the second one but 食べすきない sounds correct but I know someone is gonna say they mean the something but depends on context

  3. 食べすぎる = eat too much
    食べすぎない = don’t eat too much

    食べない = don’t eat

    食べなさすぎる = eat too little

    Just think of it as the “don’t eat” is too much. Aka eat too little.

  4. The first denies “食べすぎ” with “ない”.

    But “食べなさすぎる”.

    In this case, “ない” is an adjective. An adjective becomes a noun by adding “さ” after it.

    “食べない”(don’t eat) is “すぎる”(too much).

    So this means eating too little.

  5. 食べすぎる eat too much

    食べすぎない not eat too much

    食べなすぎる eat too little

    食べなすぎない not eat too little

    (Note that, from a prescriptive grammar perspective, you don’t add a さ here. The さ only gets added to ない when it’s used as a standalone word not as a suffix in a verb. The ない that is used with adjectives is considered standalone as something like 大きくない is really 大きく+ない)

  6. Japanese teacher here. Maybe easier to get the idea in sentences?

    食べすぎない。Eat not too much (eat too much ＋negativeない=Eat, not too much）

    もうすぐご飯だから、おかしを**食べすぎない**で。（Don’t eat too much snacks cause meal is almost ready)

    食べなさすぎる。Not eat too much (Not eat ＋ too much すぎる＝”not eating” is too much=eating too little, eating not enough)

    うちの猫は年を取っているけど、それにしても最近ご飯を**食べなさすぎる**と思うんだ。心配だなぁ (I’m worrying about my cat. He is old, but even considering it, he is eating too less recently.)

Leave a Reply
— Previous article

Japan-S. Korea wartime labor row still far from fundamental solution
Next article —

BBC News have started their coverage on Johnny Kitagawa and all the noncery he got up to.

You May Also Like