# Quá: so … ! / too in Vietnamese (A1)

> After an adjective, quá turns it into an exclamation: Ngon quá! So good! Đẹp quá! How beautiful!

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/qua-so/ · Updated 2026-11-10

**so … ! / too …**

Pattern: `[adjective] + quá! · quá + [adjective] (too)`

Level: A1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: qua

Variants:

- Ôi, … quá!

After an adjective, *quá* turns it into an exclamation: *Ngon quá!* So good! *Đẹp quá!* How beautiful! It's how you react to something in the moment, often with *ôi* or *trời ơi* in front: *Trời ơi, nóng quá!*

When you're complaining, the same words mean "too": at the market, *Mắc quá!* means "That's too expensive!" (in Hà Nội, *Đắt quá!*). Only the situation tells you whether it's "so" or "too".

Before an adjective, *quá* often means "too, more than it should be": *quá nhiều đường* (too much sugar), *quá xa* (too far). In speech it's also often just a strong "very": *quá đẹp*, stunning; *quá tuyệt*, amazing. The situation tells you which. Before a time or a place, *quá* means "past": *quá giờ* (past the time), *Đi quá rồi!* (We've gone past it!).

Compared with *rất* and *lắm*, which describe, *quá* reacts. When you recommend a place, *Quán này rất ngon* or *ngon lắm* fits; tasting the food yourself, you say *Ngon quá!* In Saigon, *quá trời* is stronger still: *Đông quá trời!* It's so crowded!

## Examples

- Bánh mì này ngon quá! — This bánh mì is so good!
- Trời ơi, nóng quá! — Oh my, it's so hot!
- Saigon: Mắc quá, bớt chút đi chị. | Hà Nội: Đắt quá, bớt chút đi chị. — That's too expensive, can you come down a bit?
- Saigon: Em bỏ quá nhiều đường rồi. | Hà Nội: Em cho quá nhiều đường rồi. — You've put in too much sugar.

## Words in this pattern

- [quá](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/qua-so/#lx_qua_very): exclaiming

## Compare

- [Very: rất before the adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/rat-very/): very
- [Very (spoken): lắm after the adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lam-very/): very, really
- [Really so …!: adjective + quá trời, quá chừng, ghê](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/exclaim-intensifiers/): so very …!
- [So …! (surprise): adjective + vậy / thế](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/the-vay-so-adj/): so (surprised)

Previous in How much, and comparing: [Quite, fairly: khá + adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/kha-quite/)
Next in How much, and comparing: [The most: adjective + nhất](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nhat-most/)

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