20
過
Pass, Exceed, Mistake
すぎる (sugiru), すごす (sugosu), あやまち (ayamachi)
JLPT N3
Interesting Fact
Japanese uses ~すぎる (-sugiru) after verbs and adjectives to express doing or being too much. 😅 For example, 食べすぎる means "eating too much," while 寝すぎる means "sleeping too much." It's an incredibly useful pattern because Japanese speakers can attach it to countless actions. So when someone wakes up after sleeping until noon and says, 寝すぎた!—they're admitting they went beyond the reasonable limit.
Memory Trick
“🛒 You passed the limit for putting boxes on the cart—that’s 過!”
Readings
Onyomi: カ (ka)
Kunyomi: すぎる (sugiru), すごす (sugosu), あやまち (ayamachi)
Example Words
過去
かこ (kako)
Past
通過
つうか (tsuuka)
Passing through
過ぎる
すぎる (sugiru)
To exceed
過失
かしつ (kashitsu)
Negligence
Example Sentence
時間が早く過ぎました。
じかん が はやく すぎました。
jikan ga hayaku sugimashita
Time passed quickly.