How To Spell Too Much Or Too Much

Doubts regarding the spelling of words often have their origin in phonetic variations. Of course, this is not something that everyone goes through life pondering; but there are cases in which you suddenly need to write a word like “too much” and you may have doubts.

In Spain, the voiceless alveolar fricative phoneme that is represented by the spelling S has a marked difference in pronunciation with the graphemes C and Z. The phenomenon of lisping is not very frequent, on the other hand, in Latin America. Therefore, it is likely that our Latino friends are the ones who can make the mistake more easily.

In this way, you have to know that there are variants in the realization of the phoneme in question. It is known by many that in the American or Latin American dialects the allophone used is the alveolar or dental [s].

Now, you may be wondering how to make this sound; Well, very simple, with the blade of the tongue in the alveoli of your teeth (that is, the back of the teeth), with great subtlety you let the air out. This will produce a snake-like sound. On the other hand, in Spain it is apicoalvolár; in other words, the apex of the tongue (the tip) touches the alveoli to produce a higher-pitched sound [s̺].

Sociolinguistic implications in spelling

It is interesting to know the phonetics of the language and, above all, the different allophonic realizations with respect to the linguistic community to which it belongs. This knowledge is fundamental for the optimization of the learning and teaching of the spelling of Spanish at an international level.

The pragmatic nature of orality never diminishes the formality of the internal language system as such, but rather nourishes it with culture and worldviews that enrich our language and our metalinguistic reflection.

Knowing that societies vary and with them their ways of pronouncing phonemes, we can create more awareness about why so many doubts appear when deciding to write “too much” with C or S.

Instructions for writing too much or too much

1. The proper way to write this word is with the grapheme S, since it comes from the noun excess; which in turn derives from the Romance term demas, originally from the Latin magis, which means
2. In this sense, we can affirm that the reason why too much is written with S is strictly etymological and the confusion in the writing of this word is due to phonetic reasons, regarding the pronunciation of the allophonic variants.
3. This word as an adjective qualifies the noun that follows it, expressing quality of excess.  For example, I have eaten too much cake.
4. In its adverbial form it means excessive action, as a synonym for For example, My wife fights too much.
5. It is important to remember that this term is not synonymous with the adverb muchin any case. Therefore, expressions like Too good do not equate to terrific. Remember that this term originally means “something that is in excess”, “an excess”; therefore it cannot qualify virtues or positive actions.

Examples of correct and incorrect use

1. This ice cream is too good(incorrect use): if it is good, it is supposed to be delicious and that cannot be excessive, the flavor of the ice cream is not enough.
2. This ice cream is very good(appropriate expression): the adverb very, unlike the term too much, positively intensifies the expression regarding the pleasant flavor of the ice cream.
3. I like chocolate too much(misuse): to like something means to be pleasant to you;  therefore, the connotation of “excessive” that the term too much attributes to the noun does not match.
4. I really like chocolate(appropriate expression): in this case the quantity adjective much  is the most appropriate term.
5. There are other cases in which the term is interpreted pragmatically in terms of the contextual meaning of the discourse. For example, it would not be incorrect to say That man knows too much about us, we have to eliminate him, if it is a conversation between gangsters. Neither does it make a mistake to say It was too beautiful to be true, when a lie has been discovered.

What do you need to write too much or too much?

Many times you do not have a photographic memory to record the morphology of the words as they should be orthographically. Ok, there are many who do have it and we congratulate them. However, for the rest of the mortals, there may always be some doubt when writing a term; especially if we don’t get used to using it frequently.

1. There are many nmon techniques to memorize photographically; However, on this occasion we present you with some tricks so that you can cultivate yourself in metalinguistic reflection and not only learn the correct way to write the term for the sake of it, but also learn many new things.
2. First of all, repetition is one of the best strategies to memorize anything. Therefore, one learns to write by writing. To do this, you must learn to read first. How is this, reading with a greater degree of attention to the morphology of the word, and constantly rereading it also helps.
3. Another way to remember how the word too muchis spelled is to know its etymological root. Many people can remember information more accurately when they associate it with other information. Therefore, if you know its Latin origins and how it evolved into what it is today, you may more easily remember which grapheme to use at the right time.
4. Finally, forget about calligraphy. Although many still affirm that it is an effective method, the truth is that it is only for 10% of the people who are interested in cultivating the language. The photographic fixation of the morphology of the words does not deepen the linguistic reflection and therefore it is a very superficial knowledge of the language. For this reason, it is advisable to study orthography based on its functionality within the language system and not exclude it from it.

Tips for writing too much or too much

1. Do not settle for looking up a term in the dictionary to find out how it is spelled. Learning spelling goes much further than blindly following a rule. For this reason, in this post we have taken the task of explaining to you the true scientific reasons why the term Too much is written with S and not with
2. There are millions of posts in which they post examples of the proper and incorrect uses of words, especially on spelling. However, this is information that leads to empty knowledge. On the other hand, the explanations that we have given you stimulate your metalinguistic reflection and provide true meaningful learning. Therefore, we recommend that you do not waste your time reading junk articles that do not really educate you.
3. When in doubt about spelling, go to the etymology dictionary first; then, consult a usual dictionary and later reflect on it. In this way, you reaffirm your knowledge and you will be rereading the word so that this reading and reflection exercise contributes effectively to memorizing the morphology of the word you are studying.
4. Reading and writing exercises are also good for memorizing structures.  However, remember that you must associate the image with significant information to consolidate your knowledge of spelling.