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As I was taught, with verbs and adjectives, when you want to express an
excessive degree, you simply attach 「すぎる」 to the stem of the word, as below.

> **食【た】べ** る **食べ** 過ぎる
>
> 多【おお】い **多** すぎる

However, when it comes to negative forms, there seem to be cases where 「さ」 is
appended before 「すぎる」, and cases where 「さ」 is not.

For example, I have recently heard:

> おもしろく **なさすぎる**
>
> 知ら **なすぎる**
>
> 知ら **なさすぎる**

When is this 「さ」 needed? Is it perhaps optional only for verbs? In the case
that it is optional, is there a difference between having and leaving out 「さ」?
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2015-10-30T21:39:44.427
28944
2015-10-31T17:23:54.497
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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9838
question
grammar conjugations
Should I use 「なすぎる」 or 「なさすぎる」?
Referencing the answer
[here](http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1014406135):

The 「ない」s in 「食べない」 and 「多くない」 are different. The first is an auxiliary verb,
and the second is an adjective.

It seems the "traditionally correct" way is to first add the 「さ」 in the case
of the adjective, and to directly attach 「すぎる」 in the case of the auxiliary
verb.

For example, as you heard:

> おもしろくな **さすぎる**
>
> 知らな **すぎる**

However, in practical usage, there is also an increasingly popular trend to
attach the 「さ」 in both cases, as in:

> し **なさすぎる**
>
> 知ら **なさすぎる**
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-30T21:39:44.427
28945
2015-10-31T17:23:54.497
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
-1
9838
28944
answer