Breakdown of Какая глупость! Не верю, чтобы он заплатил чересчур много.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
какой
which/what kind of (m, sister forms: какая, какое)
много
a lot
верить
to believe
заплатить
to pay
чтобы
in order to
глупость
foolishness
чересчур
overly
Questions & Answers about Какая глупость! Не верю, чтобы он заплатил чересчур много.
Why does this sentence use чтобы + past tense (заплатил) instead of just что он заплатил?
Because the main clause has a negated verb of belief (не верю), you can use чтобы plus the past tense in the following clause. This structure is used for doubt and denial to emphasize that you consider the event highly improbable or completely unreal.
Could I just say Не верю, что он заплатил?
Yes, absolutely. Using что is the standard way to express factual disbelief. However, switching to чтобы is a great stylistic choice that makes your disbelief much stronger, almost like saying 'I refuse to believe such a ridiculous thing could even occur.'
What is the difference between чересчур and слишком?
Both words mean 'too' or 'excessively' and are usually interchangeable. Чересчур is slightly more colloquial and carries a stronger emotional sense of a boundary being crossed. Historically, it literally meant 'over the edge'.
Why is there no я before не верю?
Russian often drops personal pronouns in casual speech when the subject is completely obvious from the verb ending (the -ю tells us it is first-person singular). Omitting the pronoun makes this emotional exclamation sound punchier and much more natural.
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