Turning adjective+すぎる into adverbs


Suppose I want to say

> "He was taken from us too soon."

Could I do this by using 早い->早すぎる->早すぎて and writing the sentence this way?

> 彼は、私達から、早すぎて奪われました。




-過ぎて does not work adverbially like this. 過ぎる must attach the modified verb part.

  * 急いで食べ過ぎですよ。  
You're eating too fast.  
(Not: You're overeating in a hurry.)

  * 甘く煮過ぎています。  
You have sweetened it too much (while cooking it).  
(Not: You have overcooked it.)

  * 彼女は遅く来過ぎた。  
She arrived too late.

Therefore, if you mean "He died too early" and want to use 過ぎる, the
grammatically correct sentence is 彼は早く死に過ぎました, though this doesn't sound very
polite. I think a natural option is 彼はあまりに早く私達を残してこの世を去りました or something. For
this meaning, forget the verb 奪う.




-過ぎて does not work adverbially like this. 過ぎる must attach the modified verb part.

  * 急いで食べ過ぎですよ。  
You're eating too fast.  
(Not: You're overeating in a hurry.)

  * 甘く煮過ぎています。  
You have sweetened it too much (while cooking it).  
(Not: You have overcooked it.)

  * 彼女は遅く来過ぎた。  
She arrived too late.

Therefore, if you mean "He died too early" and want to use 過ぎる, the
grammatically correct sentence is 彼は早く死に過ぎました, though this doesn't sound very
polite. I think a natural option is 彼はあまりに早く私達を残してこの世を去りました or something. For
this meaning, forget the verb 奪う.

