Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhè gè tāng tài xián tài là le, wǒ bù tài xǐhuan. - This soup is too salty and too spicy; I don’t really like it.

个 (gè) is a measure word (classifier). In Chinese, you normally cannot put a number or demonstrative (this/that) directly in front of a noun; you need a measure word in between.

Structure:

这 + 个 + 汤 = this + (general classifier) + soup

So 这个汤 literally means “this (bowl/pot of) soup.”

With many nouns in everyday speech, people often say 这 + 个 + noun:

这个人 – this person
这个地方 – this place

Can you say 这汤?
Yes, you can hear 这汤 in spoken Chinese, especially in casual or regional speech. But 这个汤 is more standard and feels more natural to most speakers, especially in textbooks and careful speech.

Is 个 (gè) the correct measure word for 汤, or should it be something like 一碗汤?

For counting soup, the “proper” measure word is often 碗 (wǎn, bowl):

一碗汤 – a bowl of soup
两碗汤 – two bowls of soup

However, when you just say “this soup” in a general way (not specifying a bowl, pot, etc.), Chinese often uses 个 as a default/general measure word:

这个汤太咸太辣了 – This soup is too salty and too spicy.

If you want to be more specific, you can certainly say:

这碗汤太咸太辣了 – This bowl of soup is too salty and too spicy.

Both are correct; 个 is just less specific and very common in everyday speech.

Why isn’t there a verb like “is” (like 是) before 太咸太辣了?

In Chinese, adjectives can function as verbs (“stative verbs”). You don’t need “to be” in front of them.

Pattern:

Noun + Adjective = Noun is Adjective

So:

这个汤 太咸太辣了
Literally: This soup too-salty too-spicy-le
Natural English: This soup is too salty and too spicy.

You would not normally say:

✗ 这个汤是太咸太辣了 (possible only in special emphasis contexts)

The normal, neutral form drops 是.

What does the structure 太 + adjective + 了 mean exactly?

太…了 is a very common pattern:

太 + adjective + 了

Core meanings:

“Too …” (excessive; complaining or negative)
- 这个汤 太咸了 – This soup is too salty.
Often also carries a feeling of “so …!” (strong emotion, sometimes positive, sometimes negative)
- 你女儿 太可爱了 – Your daughter is so cute!

In this sentence:

太咸太辣了
means the soup is excessively salty and spicy, in a bad way.

Note: 了 here is not just past tense. It’s mainly part of the 太…了 pattern and/or marks a change of situation / strong judgment.

Does 了 here mean the action is in the past?

No. In 太咸太辣了, 了 is not marking past tense of an action. Instead, it:

Completes the 太…了 structure, and
Often indicates a state/judgment that has (now) come into being, or adds emotional emphasis.

So:

这个汤太咸太辣了
= “This soup is (now) too salty and too spicy.”

It doesn’t say anything about past vs present in the English tense sense. Chinese doesn’t use 了 as a simple “past tense marker” the way English uses “-ed”.

Why are there two 太s: 太咸太辣了? Could you say it with only one 太?

太咸太辣了 literally is:

太咸 + 太辣 + 了 – too salty, too spicy

Having 太 before each adjective is very natural: it emphasizes that each quality (salty, spicy) is excessive.

You can say:

太咸太辣了 – too salty and too spicy (very common)
太咸、太辣了 – same meaning, just with a pause/comma
太咸又太辣了 – too salty and also too spicy (adds 又 “and also”)

If you only said:

太咸辣了 – this is not natural. You need something to connect the two adjectives (another 太, or 又, or 也, etc.).

Another common pattern is:

又咸又辣 – both salty and spicy
e.g. 这个汤又咸又辣 – This soup is salty and spicy (no explicit “too”).

Could 太 here just mean “very”, not “too”?

Usually, 太 + adj + 了 is understood as “too …” (excessive, often negative):

太贵了 – too expensive
太累了 – too tired

So here it’s most natural as:

太咸太辣了 – too salty and too spicy.

In casual speech, some people DO use 太…了 with a positive sense (“so/very”), especially in praise:

太好吃了！– So/very delicious!

But in your sentence, because salty and spicy are being complained about, “too” is the best translation.

If you just want “very salty and spicy” (without “too”):

这个汤 很咸很辣 – This soup is very salty and very spicy.

What’s the difference between 不喜欢 and 不太喜欢?

不喜欢 = do not like
→ straightforward dislike, often neutral/flat: “I don’t like it.”
不太喜欢 = don’t really like / don’t particularly like / don’t like it very much
→ more softened, milder, less direct.

In this sentence:

我 不太喜欢
= “I don’t really like (it).”

It sounds less harsh and more polite than 我不喜欢, which can feel blunt.

Why is there 太 again in 不太喜欢? Is that the same 太?

Yes, it’s the same 太, but used differently.

In 太咸太辣了, 太 with 了 expresses “too …” (excessive).
In 不太喜欢, the pattern is:
- 不太 + verb/adjective = “not very / not really …”

Examples:

我不太累 – I’m not very tired.
我不太明白 – I don’t really understand.
我不太喜欢 – I don’t really like (it).

So 不太喜欢 softens the negation to “not very much” rather than a full “don’t like at all”.

Why is there no object after 喜欢? Shouldn’t it say “I don’t really like this soup”?

In Chinese, if it’s clear from context what you are talking about, the object can be omitted.

We just talked about:

这个汤太咸太辣了 – This soup is too salty and too spicy,

So when we say:

我不太喜欢 – I don’t really like (it),

everyone knows “it” refers to the soup. You could say:

我不太喜欢 这个汤 – I don’t really like this soup.

Both are fine; the shorter version is just more natural in conversation.

Why is the subject 我 (I) after a comma? Is this one sentence or two?

Chinese often chains two related clauses with just a comma, where English might use either:

a comma + “so/because”, or
a full stop and a new sentence.

Here:

这个汤太咸太辣了，我不太喜欢。

This is essentially two short sentences joined by a comma:

这个汤太咸太辣了 – This soup is too salty and too spicy.
我不太喜欢 – I don’t really like (it).

Many learners would also expect a linking word:

因为这个汤太咸太辣了，(所以)我不太喜欢。
Because this soup is too salty and too spicy, (so) I don’t really like it.

The version without 因为/所以 is very natural, and the comma alone is enough to show the logical connection.

Why is 不 used for negation, not 没 in 我不太喜欢?

不 (bù) and 没 (méi) are both negation words, but they’re used differently:

不 is used for:
- habitual actions, preferences, general truths, future, adjectives, etc.
- e.g. 不喜欢, 不去, 不大, 不贵
没 is used mainly for:
- negating past / completed actions or the existence/possession
- e.g. 没去过 – haven’t gone; 没有钱 – don’t have money

喜欢 is a stative verb of liking (a preference), so you use 不:

我不喜欢 / 我不太喜欢 – I don’t (really) like (it).

✗ 我没太喜欢 would sound strange here.

Why isn’t 喜欢 marked for tense? How do we know if it means “liked” or “like”?

Chinese verbs usually don’t change form for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.). Tense and aspect are shown by:

Time words: 昨天, 现在, 明天, 刚才, etc.
Aspect particles: 了, 过, 着 (when appropriate)
Context

Here:

我不太喜欢
with no time word, in everyday context, is usually understood as a present/general preference:
- “I don’t really like (it / this soup).”

If you wanted to talk about a past reaction (e.g., that time you drank it), you’d rely on context or add time words:

昨天喝的时候，我不太喜欢。
When I drank it yesterday, I didn’t really like it.

Is the pronunciation xǐhuan or xǐhuān? Why does the second syllable look like it has no tone mark?

The standard pronunciation is:

喜 – xǐ (3rd tone)
欢 – huan (neutral tone in this word)

So it’s xǐhuan, not xǐhuān.

Many dictionaries write the underlying tone of 欢 as huān (1st tone), but in the word 喜欢, the second syllable is usually pronounced with a neutral tone in normal speech. That’s why you often see it written as xǐhuan (3rd + neutral).

Neutral tone syllables in Pinyin are normally written without a tone mark.

Could I say 我很不喜欢 instead of 我不太喜欢?

You can say 我很不喜欢, but it’s much stronger and less common in everyday speech.

Nuances:

我不太喜欢 – I don’t really like it / I don’t like it very much. (soft, mild)
我不喜欢 – I don’t like it. (neutral, direct)
我很不喜欢 – I really don’t like it / I dislike it very much. (strong emphasis, close to “I hate it” in feeling)

In the context of mild complaining about soup being too salty and spicy, 我不太喜欢 is the most natural and polite choice.

Could the sentence be reordered as 我不太喜欢这个汤，因为太咸太辣了? Is that equivalent?

Yes, that’s perfectly grammatical and natural:

我不太喜欢这个汤，因为太咸太辣了。
I don’t really like this soup, because it’s too salty and too spicy.

Differences in feel:

Original: 这个汤太咸太辣了，我不太喜欢。
→ States the problem first, then your reaction.
Reordered with 因为: 我不太喜欢这个汤，因为太咸太辣了。
→ States your reaction first, then explicitly gives the reason.

Both are fine; Chinese allows flexible word order when the logic is clear. The original shorter version is very typical in casual spoken Chinese.