Demasiado: Too, too much, too many.

by Alba Castro

Demasiado is a word that we use a lot, but sometimes it means "too much" and other times, "too many". How the hell do I know how to say what I want to say then?

Too...

This is focused on a quality. Too loud, too far away, too naive...

Demasiado + adjective (describing word)

Demasiado doesn't change because it doesn't refer to a noun, the adjective does.

Ex:

Lara es demasiado nostálgica - Lara is too nostalgic.

Somos demasiado bajos para ese juego - We're too short for that game.

Pienso que Rodrigo es demasiado generoso - I think Rodrigo is too generous.

TO DO something too much

Demasiado + verb

Demasiado doesn't change at all, because verbs don't have gender or number per se, so demasiado always stays in its neutral, masculine singular version.

Examples:

Tu hermana habla demasiado - Your sister talks too much.

Te preocupas demasiado - You worry too much

¿No trabajas demasiado? - Don't you work too much?

No es bueno enfadarse demasiado - It's not good to get angry too much.

Amount

Too much of something

Demasiado or demasiada + noun

You choose the masculine or the feminine version, depending on the gender of the noun.

Too many of something

Demasiados or demasiadas +noun

You also choose between masculine and feminine, and in this case you're also using the plural (adding an -s at the end).

Ex:

Tenemos demasiadas cosas - We have too many things.

El coche hace demasiado ruido - The car makes too much noise.

Hay demasiada comida - There is too much food.

Pablo alimenta a demasiados gatos - Pablo feeds too many cats.

Practice

Fill in the gaps with:

demasiado, demasiada, demasiados or demasiadas

  1. ¡Corres ______________! - You run too much!

  2. ¿No está ____________ alto? - Isn't it too loud?

  3. No tenemos __________ dinero. - We don't have too much money.

  4. Nunca puedes aprender ___________. - You can never learn too much.

  5. Hay _________ niños en el parque. - There are too many kids in the park.

  6. A veces, son ___________ infantiles - Sometimes, they're too childish.

  7. Ella tiene ___________ ropa - She has too many clothes.

  8. Él se queja ____________ -He complains too much.

  9. Son _____________ flores (femenine), no cabrán - They're too many flowers, they won't fit.

Sol: demasiado/demasiado/demasiado/demasiado/demasiados/demasiado/demasiada/demasiado/demasiadas

Hope that helped!

¡Hasta pronto!