33.3 The Suffix 得滯 dak1 zai6 (‘too’)

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The suffix 得滯 dak1 zai6 means ‘too’ (as in too salty). We put 得滯 dak1 zai6 after an adjective to indicate that something is more than is suitable. In this lesson, we will use 得滯 dak1 zai6 with a predicative adjective. Since 得滯 dak1 zai6 already indicates a degree, we don’t need to add a degree word before the predicative adjective. When we use 得滯 dak1 zai6 with a predicative adjective, we often use the sentence particle 喇 laa3 at the same time.

Subject	Predicative Adjective	得滯 dak1 zai6 ‘too’	喇 laa3
啲叉燒	鹹	得滯	喇	。
di1 caa1 siu1	haam4	dak1 zai6	laa3	.
the char siu	salty	too	SP
The char siu is too salty.
個炒飯	油	得滯	喇	。
go3 caau2 faan6	jau4	dak1 zai6	laa3	.
the fried rice	greasy	too	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 the adjective and 噉 gam2 (‘seem’) after 得滯 dak1 zai6.

Subject	好似 hou2 ci5 ‘seem’	Predicative Adjective	得滯 dak1 zai6 ‘too’	噉 gam2 ‘seem’	喇 laa3
啲叉燒	好似	鹹	得滯	噉	喇	。
di1 caa1 siu1	hou2 ci5	haam4	dak1 zai6	gam2	laa3	.
the char siu	seem	salty	too	seem	SP
The char siu seems too salty.
個炒飯	好似	油	得滯	噉	喇	。
go3 caau2 faan6	hou2 ci5	jau4	dak1 zai6	gam2	laa3	.
the fried rice	seem	greasy	too	seem	SP
The fried rice seems too greasy.