Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǒ hē le tài duō kāfēi, wǎnshang huì hěn nánshòu. - I drank too much coffee; I’ll feel really uncomfortable tonight.

我喝了太多咖啡
= I (have) drunk too much coffee (already).
It tells you this has already happened, and now we’re dealing with the result (feeling bad at night).

If you remove it:

我喝太多咖啡，晚上会很难受。

This is more likely to be understood as a general/habitual statement:

When(ever) I drink too much coffee, I (tend to) feel bad at night.

So:

With 了: one specific past event (today / recently).
Without 了: more general rule or habit (unless context forces a specific reading).

2. Is this 了 the same as the 了 that can go at the end of a sentence?

There are two common 了’s:

Verb-了 (aspect 了) – directly after a verb:
- 我喝了太多咖啡。
  Completed action.
Sentence-了 (change-of-state 了) – at or near the end of a sentence:
- 我喝太多咖啡了。
  Indicates a new situation / change, something like:
  Now I (already) drink too much coffee (compared to before).

In your sentence, 了 is verb-了 (aspect), showing this drinking event is finished. There is no sentence-final 了 here.

3. Could I say 我喝过太多咖啡 instead of 我喝了太多咖啡?

No, that would sound wrong or at least very strange.

喝了: completed a specific action/event.
- 我喝了太多咖啡 = I (have) drunk too much coffee (this time / now).
喝过: indicates past experience in general.
- 我喝过很多咖啡 = I have drunk a lot of coffee (in my life / before).

我喝过太多咖啡 would literally sound like:

I have had the experience of having drunk too much coffee (at some time in my life),

which doesn’t match the intended meaning “I drank too much coffee (now), I’ll feel bad tonight.”
So 了, not 过, is correct here.

4. Why is it 太多咖啡 and not something like 咖啡太多 here?

In Chinese, quantifiers (like “too much”, “a lot of”) usually come before the noun:

太多咖啡 = too much coffee
很多人 = many people
一点儿水 = a little water

The basic pattern is:

(Number / quantity word) + (measure word, if needed) + Noun

Since 多 here works as a quantity word meaning “much/many”, and 太 modifies it to “too”, we get:

太多 + 咖啡 → 太多咖啡

咖啡太多 is also grammatical, but it’s a different structure:

It treats 咖啡 as the subject: “The coffee is too much.”
It’s more like commenting on the amount of coffee present, not directly on what you drank.

Here we want “I drank too much coffee” → 我喝了太多咖啡 is the natural structure.

5. What’s the difference between 太多 and 很多?

太多 = too much / too many
- Implies excess, a negative result, or complaint.
- Example: 我吃了太多。 = I ate too much (and that’s a problem).
很多 = a lot / many
- Just states quantity; no built-in negative feeling.
- Example: 我有很多书。 = I have many books.

In the sentence:

我喝了太多咖啡，晚上会很难受。
The whole point is that the amount is excessive and leads to feeling bad, so 太多 is exactly right.
很多咖啡 would soften it to just “a lot of coffee”, without clearly saying it’s too much.

6. Why is 晚上 used without 在? Why not 在晚上会很难受?

Time words like 今天 (today), 明天 (tomorrow), 早上 (morning), 晚上 (evening/night) usually appear without 在 when they just mark when something happens:

我晚上会很难受。
我明天去北京。
他昨天回来。

Adding 在 before a time word is possible but:

在 is much more common before locations:
- 在家, 在学校, 在公司
在晚上 is grammatical but sounds unusually formal or heavy in everyday speech, and often used when contrasting:
- 在白天我很精神，在晚上我就很困。
  In the daytime I’m energetic; at night I’m sleepy.

So in normal conversation, 晚上会很难受 is the natural choice.

7. Why is the subject 我 missing in the second part? Why not 我晚上会很难受?

Chinese often omits subjects if they are obvious from context.

Full version:

我喝了太多咖啡，(我) 晚上会很难受。

Because the second clause clearly continues talking about the same “I”, it’s completely natural to drop 我 the second time.

You can say:

我喝了太多咖啡，我晚上会很难受。

It’s grammatical, just a little heavier / more repetitive. Native speakers usually prefer the shorter version if there’s no ambiguity.

8. What does 会 do in 晚上会很难受? Could we just say 晚上很难受?

会 here is a modal verb meaning roughly “will / is likely to / tend to”, indicating prediction or possibility.

晚上会很难受。
= I will feel bad tonight / I’m going to feel bad tonight.

If you remove 会:

晚上很难受。
= The nights are very uncomfortable / At night (I) feel bad (more like a general, ongoing situation).

So:

有了会 → talking about what will happen as a result of drinking too much this time.
没有会 → more like a description or habit.

9. Why is 很 used before 难受? Can I say 晚上会难受 instead?

Two points:

In basic Chinese, adjectives as predicates usually need something like 很 to link them to the subject:
- 他很高。 (natural)
- 他高。 (often sounds unnatural or overly contrastive)
However, when there is a modal verb like 会, 会难受 is grammatically acceptable:
- 晚上会难受。 = It will be uncomfortable tonight.

So why add 很?

晚上会难受。
– Simple statement: It will be uncomfortable / I’ll feel bad.
晚上会很难受。
– Usually understood as stronger: I’ll feel really bad / quite miserable tonight.

In this sentence, 很 is doing double duty:

It fits the common pattern (subject) + 很 + adjective.
It also adds some intensity: not just “uncomfortable”, but “very uncomfortable”.

Both 晚上会难受 and 晚上会很难受 are possible; the original sounds more natural and emotive in everyday speech.

10. What exactly does 难受 mean here? How is it different from 不舒服 or 难过?

难受
Literally “hard to bear”; often used for:
- physical discomfort: feeling sick, uncomfortable, in pain
- sometimes also emotional discomfort
不舒服
Literally “not comfortable”; very common, often slightly softer:
- 我有点儿不舒服。 = I feel a bit unwell.
难过
Primarily emotional sadness:
- 听到这个消息我很难过。 = I’m very sad to hear this news.

In 晚上会很难受 (after too much coffee), 难受 suggests:

feeling physically awful: jittery, heart racing, stomach upset, maybe emotionally uneasy too.

You could also say:

晚上会很不舒服。
This is also natural and maybe a bit less dramatic than 很难受.

11. Could I say 我喝咖啡喝得太多了，晚上会很难受 instead? Is it the same?

Yes, that sentence is also correct, but the structure is different.

我喝了太多咖啡
= I drank too much coffee.
Simple verb + object.
我喝咖啡喝得太多了
Uses the “verb + 得” result/complement structure:
- Literally: As for drinking coffee, I drank (it) to the extent of too much.

Both mean almost the same thing here. Differences:

我喝了太多咖啡
- More direct, slightly simpler.
我喝咖啡喝得太多了
- Emphasizes the manner/degree of the action “drinking coffee” itself.

For everyday conversation, your original sentence is perfectly natural and maybe a bit simpler for learners.

12. Are there any tone-change (tone sandhi) issues in this sentence I should notice?

The sentence is:

我 wǒ (3)
喝 hē (1)
了 le (neutral)
太 tài (4)
多 duō (1)
咖啡 kāfēi (1,1)
，
晚上 wǎnshang (3 + neutral)
会 huì (4)
很 hěn (3)
难受 nánshòu (2,4)

The only standard tone sandhi you need to watch:

A 3rd tone before another 3rd tone changes to 2nd tone.
But here:
- wǒ (3) is before hē (1) → no change
- wǎn (3) is before neutral tone shang → no change
- hěn (3) is before nán (2) → also no 3–3 pair

So in this sentence there are no special 3rd-tone sandhi changes to apply. You can read each tone as marked.