太 tài too much
How to remember 太: 大 big + 丶 a drop = too much. At dinner the waiter keeps filling the big glass until a drop spills over, and the guest laughs "That is too much!"
Component breakdown
太 = 大 big + 丶 a drop
- 大 big
- 丶 a drop
At dinner the waiter keeps filling the big glass until a drop spills over, and the guest laughs "That is too much!"
How it came to be
Big with one extra dot under it. The dot does not draw anything: it is a mark meaning more of this, and what it makes is the step past big into too big.
How it is used
- 'Too (much)', almost always framed 太…了 - 太贵了 (tài guì le) too expensive, 太好了 (tài hǎo le) great!
- It carries emotion or exclamation, not neutral degree; for a plain 'very' use 很. Also the base of 太阳 (tàiyáng) the sun and 太太 (tàitai) wife/Mrs.
Characters built with 太
Words with 太
- 太阳tàiyángthe sunHSK 3
- 太太tàitaimarried womanHSK 5
- 太空tàikōngouter spaceHSK 6
- 太阳能tàiyángnéngsolar energyHSK 6
- 老太太lǎotàitaielderly lady (respectful)HSK 6
- 太平tàipíngpeace and securityHSK 7
- 太极tàijíthe Absolute or Supreme Ultimate, the source of all things according to some interpretations of Chinese mythologyHSK 7
Example sentences
- 今天太热了！ Jīntiān tài rè le!It's so hot today!
- 冬天天气太冷了。 Dōngtiān tiānqì tài lěng le.The winter weather is too cold.
- 你太瘦了，该多吃点。 Nǐ tài shòu le, gāi duō chī diǎnr.You need to eat more, you're too slim.
- 因为太冷，她感冒了。 Yīnwèi tài lěng, tā gǎnmào le.It's so cold that she caught a cold.