Breakdown of geemu o shisugite, piza o taberuno ga osoku narimashita.
Questions & Answers about geemu o shisugite, piza o taberuno ga osoku narimashita.
しすぎて comes from する (to do) + すぎる (to do too much / excessively) in the て-form.
- ゲームをする = to play games
- ゲームをしすぎる = to play games too much / excessively
- ゲームをしすぎて = playing games too much, and… / because (I) played games too much…
So in this sentence, しすぎて links the first part (playing games too much) with the result (eating pizza late). The て-form here has a “cause → result” feeling:
Because I played games too much, X happened.
In Japanese, ゲームをする is the normal way to say to play games.
- ゲーム = game(s)
- ゲームをする = to do games → to play games
Here, ゲーム is the direct object of する, so it takes を. When you add すぎる, it attaches to the verb する:
- ゲームをする → ゲームをしすぎる (to play games too much)
So ゲームを is just the regular object marking for する.
Both are possible, but the nuance changes slightly.
ゲームをしすぎて、ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。
→ Uses the て-form. This is a natural, flowing way to link cause and result.
It feels like: “(I) played games too much, so (as a result) eating pizza became late.”ゲームをしすぎたから、ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。
→ Uses から, an explicit “because”.
It feels more like: “Because I played games too much, eating pizza became late.”
The meaning is nearly the same. The て-form is very common in speech for soft, casual cause/result connections, while ～たから sounds a bit more explicit or explanatory.
Here, の is a nominalizer: it turns the action ピザを食べる (“to eat pizza”) into a thing or concept, like “the act of eating pizza”.
- ピザを食べる = to eat pizza (verb phrase)
- ピザを食べるの = the act of eating pizza / eating pizza (as a thing)
Then that “thing” becomes the subject of 遅くなりました:
- ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。
= The act of eating pizza became late.
= I ended up eating pizza late.
This is a very common pattern:
- 日本語を勉強するのが好きです。
→ I like studying Japanese. (lit. “The act of studying Japanese is likable.”)
Because in this sentence, the “act of eating pizza” is the thing that becomes late—in other words, it is the subject of なる.
The pattern is:
- X が 遅くなる = X becomes late
So:
- ピザを食べるの = the act of eating pizza
- ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。
→ The act of eating pizza became late.
Since の + phrase is the subject of なる, it takes が, not を.
You can use のを with some other verbs:
- ピザを食べるのを遅くしました。
= (I) made the act of eating pizza late / I delayed eating pizza.
Here, のを is the object of 遅くしました, so it takes を. Different verb, different structure.
You could say:
- ピザを食べることが遅くなりました。
and it is grammatically acceptable, but の is more natural in this everyday, personal, spoken-style sentence.
General tendencies:
- の feels a bit more casual and concrete, often used in spoken language and when talking about your own actions, feelings, everyday situations.
- こと can feel a bit more formal or abstract, often used in writing, rules, general statements.
So:
ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。
→ Very natural, conversational.ピザを食べることが大切です。
→ “Eating pizza is important.” (こと is natural in a general statement like this.)
遅い is an i-adjective (“late”). To use an i-adjective with なる (“to become”), you normally use the adverb-like form (the -く form):
- 遅い → 遅く
- 早い → 早く
- 楽しい → 楽しく
The pattern is:
- A-い → A-く + なる = to become A
Examples:
- 寒くなる = to become cold
- 忙しくなりました。 = I became busy.
- 遅くなりました。 = It became late.
So 遅いになりました is ungrammatical; it must be 遅くなりました.
Both involve being late, but they focus on different things.
遅くなりました。
Literally: “It became late.”
Focus: a change in time or situation.
In your sentence, it’s the timing of eating pizza that shifted to a later time.
→ “Eating pizza ended up being late.”遅れました。
Literally: “(I) was late / (it) was delayed.”
Focus: failing to be on time for something (a meeting, train, deadline).
Example:- 会議に遅れました。 = I was late for the meeting.
If you said:
- ピザを食べるのが遅れました。
it would sound more like “The act of eating pizza was delayed” (a bit stiff/odd).
遅くなりました is the natural expression for “ended up eating too late” or “it got late” in a casual everyday context.
Japanese often omits the subject if it’s clear from context.
In English, we must say “I”:
“I played too many games, and I ended up eating pizza late.”
In Japanese, if the speaker is talking about their own actions, わたしは (I) is usually understood without being said:
- （わたしは）ゲームをしすぎて、ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。
So the full underlying idea is:
- I played games too much, so my eating of pizza became late.
Leaving out わたし makes the sentence more natural and not repetitive.
Yes, you can move clauses around as long as the grammar relationships stay clear. For example:
- ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。ゲームをしすぎて。
This is possible in conversation, but the original order:
- ゲームをしすぎて、ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。
feels smoother, because Japanese often presents the cause first, then the result.
Inside each clause, though, you cannot freely move things in any order. For example:
- ピザを食べるのが遅くなりました。 ✅
- 遅くピザを食べるのがなりました。 ❌ (ungrammatical)
So: causes and whole clauses can be reordered somewhat, but the internal order of phrases around the verb is more restricted.
Yes, if the context already makes it clear what you are eating, you can omit ピザを:
- ゲームをしすぎて、食べるのが遅くなりました。
In that case, 食べるの would mean “the eating (of it)” and listeners would infer from context that “it” is pizza.
Japanese often drops information that is obvious from the situation or prior sentences. Including ピザを just makes it explicit that it’s pizza you ended up eating late.
Yes, ～てしまう adds a nuance of regret, unintended result, or completeness.
Compare:
遅くなりました。
→ It became late / I ended up late. (neutral statement)遅くなってしまいました。
→ It (unfortunately) became late / I ended up late (and I feel a bit bad about it).
So:
- ゲームをしすぎて、ピザを食べるのが遅くなってしまいました。
implies something like:
“Because I played too many games, I ended up eating the pizza late (oops / unfortunately).”
The original 遅くなりました is more neutral, just stating what happened.