trop de
/tʁo də/
In French, 'too many' is expressed as trop de.
The phrase trop de is used to indicate an excessive amount of something. In formal contexts, you might also use un excès de or une surabondance de to express the idea of having too many of something.
Meaning: excessive (det)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of trop (too much/too many) and de (of/of the).
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase trop de remains unchanged regardless of whether the noun it modifies is singular, plural, countable or uncountable.
How do you pronounce it?
/tʁo də/
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use trop des by trying to include a definite article, but trop de is the standard form used before a noun to indicate excess.
Did you know?
- In modern French, trop is often used as a slang intensifier meaning 'very' or 'really', such as c'est trop bon for 'it is really good'. In this context, it is a compliment rather than a complaint about excess.
- The root of trop originally meant a 'village' or 'dwelling' in Frankish and Old English. Over time, the idea of a crowded 'cluster' of houses evolved into the meaning of 'excessive'.
- French has a distinct word for 'too much' in the sense of 'too many' (trop de), but when something is 'overdone' or 'too much' in terms of intensity, the phrase c'est trop is used alone as a standalone exclamation.
Examples in context
- Il a trop de livres.He has too many books.This sentence is useful for seeing how to express having too many of an item with trop de.Tatoeba #450659 by sacredceltic, translation #302096 by CK
- Il y a trop de règles.There are too many rules.This sentence shows how to use trop de to describe the existence of too many rules.Tatoeba #5816457 by Aiji, translation #2995274 by CK
- Je fais trop de fautes.I'm making too many mistakes.This sentence demonstrates using trop de to talk about making too many mistakes.Tatoeba #11553132 by lbdx, translation #6873099 by CK
- Il y a trop de livres sur l'étagère.There are too many books on the shelf.
- Nous avons trop de travail à faire.We have too much work to do.
- Elle a un excès de bagages pour son voyage.She has too much luggage for her trip.
- Il y a beaucoup trop de voitures dans ce quartier.There are way too many cars in this neighborhood.
- J'ai beaucoup trop de devoirs à terminer ce soir.I have a whole lot of homework to finish tonight.
- Ces valises sont en surnombre.These suitcases are in excess.
- J'ai trop de devoirs à faire.I have too many assignments to do.
- Il y avait trop de personnes dans la rue.There were too many people on the street.
- 88 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Manon and Hugo are looking at a cluttered grocery bag.
- ManonIl y a trop de légumes dans ce sac.There are too many vegetables in this bag.
- HugoC'est vrai, Hugo a acheté tout le marché.That's true, Hugo bought the whole market.
- ManonOn ne peut pas tout manger.We cannot eat it all.
- HugoOn va donner le reste à nos voisins.We will give the rest to our neighbors.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “too many” translations and entries trop de, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, trop, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
