zu viel
/t͡suː fiːl/word by word
The German phrase for "too much" is zu viel.
zu viel is used as an adverb to indicate that an amount is excessive.
Meaning: excessively (adv)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of zu (too) and viel (much/a lot).
Which one should you use?
Use zu viel when referring to uncountable quantities such as water, time or stress. If you are referring to countable nouns like people, books or apples, you should use zu viele to mean "too many".
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase changes to zu viele when it is modifying a plural noun to mean "too many".
How do you pronounce it?
/tsuː fiːl/
Did you know?
- German has a specific word überfordert, which describes the feeling of having zu viel to handle. It literally means 'over-challenged'.
- If you find a situation 'too much' in a social sense, you might say it is 'zu viel des Guten', which literally means 'too much of the good'.
- The word viel descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *pleh₁-, which means 'to fill'. This makes it a distant relative of the English word 'full'.
Examples in context
- Ist es zu viel?Is it too much?This sentence is useful for asking if a quantity is excessive using zu viel.Tatoeba #10046436 by Melang, translation #3333945 by CK
- Das ist zu viel.That's too much.This sentence is useful for stating that something is excessive using zu viel.Tatoeba #553776 by Espi, translation #31571 by CK
- Das ist zu viel!That's too much!This sentence is useful for emphasizing that something is excessive using zu viel.Tatoeba #620761 by virgil, translation #52024 by CK
- Das Essen ist viel zu scharf.The food is too spicy.
- Das Konzert war viel zu laut.The concert was too loud.
- Das Buch ist viel zu teuer.The book is too expensive.
- Der Aufwand für das Projekt war übermäßig.The effort for the project was excessive.
- Die Preise sind übermäßig gestiegen.The prices have increased excessively.
- Ich habe zu viel gegessen.I ate too much.
- Es ist zu viel Lärm hier.There is too much noise here.
- Das war zu viel Information auf einmal!That was too much information at once!
- Das ist aber übertrieben!But that's over the top!
- Er hat unglaublich viel Arbeit.He has an incredible amount of work.
- Das ist der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen bringt.That's the drop that makes the barrel overflow.
- 527 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Felix and Hannah are working in a shared office.
- FelixIch habe heute zu viel zu tun.I have too much to do today.
- HannahBrauchst du Hilfe, Felix?Do you need help, Felix?
- FelixJa, das ist momentan zu viel.Yes, it is too much at the moment.
- HannahKein Problem, ich helfe dir.No problem, I will help you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “too much” translations and entries zu viel, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (zu, viel) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries viel, zu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
