How to express the concept of there being too much?


Example: "There's so much food, I can't eat it all..."

Right now, if forced to write that, I'd say something like
「食べ物がたくさんから、すべてを食べられない・・・」but I'm not quite sure how I'd make sure the meaning
is clear that I can't eat it because there's TOO much. Is there a way to
express this, or is it just one of those concepts that's just not present in
Japanese?




The concept of "Too much" does exist in Japanese, however, I can think of
different manners of expressing it. In your question you ask about "Being too
much", but the most common pattern, in my opinion is "To do something in
excess" that is expressed as:

> V-ますstem + 過｛す｝ぎる

To answer your question, I will first point to your example. What you say is
correct, albeit verbose. I would go with the shorter:

> もうたくさん、食べられない

(see
[weblio](http://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%82%E3%81%86%E6%B2%A2%E5%B1%B1),
second sense)

You have another option which is to use `余｛あま｝る` or one of its compounds. By
itself, 余る can [mean](http://thesaurus.weblio.jp/content/%E4%BD%99%E3%82%8B)
"To be in excess". However, I find a lot of examples using either:

> 手に余る : この仕事{しごと}は私｛わたし｝の手｛て｝に余る。

Which means "I can't handle it", "It's too much for me". Useful compounds are
`余裕｛よゆう｝`, `余剰{よじょう}` which both have a meaning of surplus, excess. However,
their use varies, and I can only encourage you to look them up in a dictionary
and check for usages on the web!

