"Η σούπα είναι πάρα πολύ ζεστή."

Translation: The soup is very hot.

[chrysaphi]

I thought that πολύ ζεστή would mean "very hot", and the πάρα adds emphasis, so I translated it as "extremely" but got marked wrong.

[deryckchan]

"The soup is very very hot" (doubling up "very" in English in the same way the Greek πάρα πολύ is doubled up)?

[G.Georgopoulos]

Yes, but "πολύ πολύ" exists as well.

[GianPaolo382731]

Hmm. I think that πάρα πολύ is often used to mean "too much"

[G.Georgopoulos]

Yes, that too ;)

[RodneyMarsh261]

How about 'very very hot'?

[samania21]

Is there any way with grammar or vocabulary to distinguish between "too hot" and "very hot," or is it just contextual?

[Alexia805728]

you can say "υπερβολικά ζεστή" to say too hot. "πάρα πολύ ζεστή" in my opinion is used more to describe something too hot and less to describe something very hot. But it's a bit unclear. You can say "πολύ ζεστή" which word to word translates to "very hot". To emphasise you can say "η σούπα είναι καυτή" which comes from the verb "καίω" that means burn.

[SophiaBend]

Υπερβολικός! And for years I thought there was no Greek word for "too"!

[MomKat5]

Just to clarify, are you saying "υπερβολικά ζεστή" has the connotation of a negative situation. "Too hot" is not good. But I can also say παρα πολυ for the same situation.

[Dimitra956826]

Yes, υπερβολικά almost always has a negative meaning. The adjective υπερβολικός does so too. Πάρα πολύ could be both negative and positive, depending on the adjective that's following.^.^

[alvaro1944]

To samania: to my understanding, 'too hot' means "EXCESSIVELY hot" and so the heat cannot be tolerated; on the other hand, 'very hot' does not give us the idea of excess. I hope I have helped. Greetings. October 12, 2017.

[MarotSamay]

I keep noticing that Greek syntax often uses multiple words to express a single idea in the same sentence.
Why do we need both "πάρα" AND "πολυ" here?
Please explain.

[G.Georgopoulos]

Emphasis ;)

[DuoSmeagol]

So "παρακαλο" literally means "very good"?

[deryckchan]

No it doesn't. Παρακαλώ (notice -ω ending, not -ο) comes from the verb καλώ "I call", not the adjective.

[G.Georgopoulos]

And very good=πολύ καλό.