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Example: "There's so much food, I can't eat it all..."

Right now, if forced to write that, I'd say something like 「食べ物がたくさんから、すべてを食べられない・・・」but I'm not quite sure how I'd make sure the meaning is clear that I can't eat it because there's TOO much. Is there a way to express this, or is it just one of those concepts that's just not present in Japanese?

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The concept of "Too much" does exist in Japanese, however, I can think of different manners of expressing it. In your question you ask about "Being too much", but the most common pattern, in my opinion is "To do something in excess" that is expressed as:

V-ますstem + 過{す}ぎる

To answer your question, I will first point to your example. What you say is correct, albeit verbose. I would go with the shorter:

もうたくさん、食べられない

(see weblio, second sense)

You have another option which is to use 余{あま}る or one of its compounds. By itself, 余る can mean "To be in excess". However, I find a lot of examples using either:

手に余る : この仕事{しごと}は私{わたし}の手{て}に余る。

Which means "I can't handle it", "It's too much for me". Useful compounds are 余裕{よゆう}, 余剰{よじょう} which both have a meaning of surplus, excess. However, their use varies, and I can only encourage you to look them up in a dictionary and check for usages on the web!

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  • Also note the use of things like いっぱい. おなかいっぱい apart from meaning my stomach is full, can also mean I have had enough (of the event / person speaking etc.). adding もう to prefix the statement can make it sound even more that too much. Sep 28, 2015 at 1:57
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    「多すぎて食べきれない」「たくさんありすぎて食べきれない」とかではだめなんでしょうか・・・
    – chocolate
    Sep 28, 2015 at 5:10

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