1a. I have too many apples.
1b. I have one too many apples / one apple too many.
2a. I am too tall.
2b. I am one centimeter too tall.
3a. I ran too far.
3b. I ran one kilometer too far.
Silvish
1a. J' ê tro de bomma.
[ʒɛˈtʁo de.bɔ̃ˈma]
1S.NOM have.1S too_many of apple
I have too many apples.
1b. J' ê-y in bomma de tro.
[ʒɛː.jɛ̃m.bɔ̃ˈma dəˈtʁo]
1S.NOM have.1S one.M.C apple of too_many
I have one too many apples / one apple too many.
2a. Jo sû tro gran/grànta.
[ʒo.syː.tʁəˈgʁɑ̃ŋ | …ˈgʁɑ̃n.tə]
1S.NOM be.1S too tall.M.N/tall.F.N
I am too tall.
2b. Jo sû-y in chantimêtrou de tro (gran).
[ʒo.syː.jɛ̃n̠.ʃɑ̃n.tiˈmɛː.tʁu dəˈtʁo | de.tʁəˈgʁɑ̃ŋ]
1S.NOM be.1S INDEF.M.C centimeter of too (tall.M.C)
I am one centimeter too tall.
3a. J' ê courru tro-t lwi.
[ʒɛː.kuˈʁy tʁəˈtlɥi]
1S.NOM have.1S run-PST_PTCP too far
I ran too far.
3b. J' ê courru in quilomêtrou de tro(-t lwi).
[ʒɛː.kuˈʁy ʔɛ̃ŋ.kiləˈmɛː.tʁu dəˈtʁo | de.tʁəˈtlɥi]
1S.NOM have.1S run-PST_PTCP INDEF.M.C kilometer of too (far)
I ran one kilometer too far.
Notes:
- In all three sentences where the excess is unquantified, Silvish puts tro "too (much/many)" before the modified word. To quantify the excess, it puts the quantity first, followed by linking preposition de and then tro.
- When quantifying adjectival/adverbial excesses, the actual adjective or adverb can be dropped if doing so won't lead to ambiguity. In 2b, gran, is unlikely to be dropped, while 3b's lwi is quite likely to.
- Another complication is that de, when used as a linking preposition, blocks adjective agreement, so a speaker who takes feminine agreement would say 2a as, "Jo sû tro grànta", with a feminine ending on gran "tall". But they would say 2b as "Jo sû-y in chantimêtrou de tro gran", with gran in its unmarked form.