33.2 The Adverb 太 taai3 (‘too; so’)

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The adverb 太 taai3 means ‘too’ (as in too salty). We put 太 taai3 before an adjective to indicate that something is more than is suitable. In this lesson, we will use 太 taai3 as the degree word for a predicative adjective. When we use 太 taai3 as the degree word for a predicative adjective, we often use the sentence particle 喇 laa3 at the same time.

Subject	太 taai3 ‘too’	Predicative Adjective	喇 laa3
啲叉燒	太	鹹	喇	。
di1 caa1 siu1	taai3	haam4	laa3	.
the char siu	too	salty	SP
The char siu is too salty.
個炒飯	太	油	喇	。
go3 caau2 faan6	taai3	jau4	laa3	.
the fried rice	too	greasy	SP
The fried rice is too greasy.

To soften the statement and make it sound less firm, we can add 好似 hou2 ci5 (‘seem’) before 太 taai3 and 噉 gam2 (‘seem’) after the adjective.

Subject	好似 hou2 ci5 ‘seem’	太 taai3 ‘too’	Predicative Adjective	噉 gam2 ‘seem’	喇 laa3
啲叉燒	好似	太	鹹	噉	喇	。
di1 caa1 siu1	hou2 ci5	taai3	haam4	gam2	laa3	.
the char siu	seem	too	salty	seem	SP
The char siu seems too salty.
個炒飯	好似	太	油	噉	喇	。
go3 caau2 faan6	hou2 ci5	taai3	jau4	gam2	laa3	.
the fried rice	seem	too	greasy	seem	SP
The fried rice seems too greasy.

太 taai3 can also mean ‘so’ (as in so delicious). We can use 太 taai3 to emphasize how good something or someone is.

Subject	太 taai3 ‘so’	Predicative Adjective	喇 laa3
個湯	太	好飲	喇	。
go3 tong1	taai3	hou2 jam2	laa3	.
the soup	so	delicious	SP
The soup is so delicious.
條魚	太	新鮮	喇	。
tiu4 jyu2	taai3	san1 sin1	laa3	.
the fish	so	fresh	SP
The fish is so fresh.