If you go to your friend’s home and find that it’s really tidy and clean, you may say something like “你家太干净了!” Be careful not to forget that little “了” on the end, though (“你家太干净!”), as doing so would change your praise into a complaint.
So how does the little word “了” make such a big difference?The structure “太A” (“A” being an adjective) is used to express that something is bad, improper, or unpleasant. Therefore, we usually use negative adjectives in this structure to create combinations like “太伤心,” “太难看,” “太吵,” and “太脏.” Combinations that contain positive adjectives like “太高兴,” “太漂亮,” “太安静,” and “太干净” are only used under certain special circumstances.
The structure “太A了,” on the other hand, is used simply to express that a certain thing is “so” something, without implying that that something is bad, improper, or unpleasant. Therefore, both positive and negative adjectives can be used in this pattern. For example:
positive ---------- negative
太高兴了---------太伤心了
太漂亮了---------太难看了
太安静了---------太吵了
太干净了---------太脏了
Let’s practice!
Decide whether each of the following sentences is written correctly (T) or not (F). If not, correct it so that it is.
- 我很喜欢住在那儿，那儿的东西太便宜。
- 中国太大，有很多游览的好地方。
Key:
- F; 我很喜欢住在那儿，那儿的东西太便宜了。
- F; 中国太大了，有很多游览的好地方。
