student asking question

I think "a little bit" and "too much" have the opposite meaning. Why is those phrase used together in this sentence?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Great question. The phrase "a little bit too much" means “somewhat too much”. Remember that “too much” is used to mean more than what is necessary or more than is needed or more than is good. Whereas "a little bit” means “a small mount”. So “a little too much” means a small amount more than what is good. The phrase is actually grammatically correct, but it is very informal. I would not use “a little bit too much” in anything that needs to be formal. “Slightly too much” works better for that. Ex: I think I put a little bit too much sugar. Ex: She ate a little bit too much cake and now she has a stomachache.

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