Verb Difficulty
This page deals with やすい、にくい、and づらい. These verbs are nouns that can attach like a suffix to the ます stem of a verb to describe its level of difficulty to do.
やすい
Easy to do
ます stem + やすい
やすい is the easiest of the basic three. It simple means that something is easy to do, either physically, biologically, or psychologically.
- わかりやすい – Easy to understand.
- 食べやすい – Easy to eat.
- 読みやすい – Easy to read.
にくい
Hard to do (Physical)
ます stem + やすい
にくい means that something is difficult to do physically. It comes from the word 難しい (difficult). It tends to emphasize the object of the verb.
- わかりにくい – Hard to understand. (The material is hard)
- 読みにくい – Hard to read. (some physical reason)
- 飲みにくい – Hard to drink (like a really thick slushy).
づらい
Painful to do (Psychological)
ます stem + やすい
づらい means something is psychologically painful or hard to do. It comes from the word 辛い (Painful).
Unlike にくい, it emphasizes the painful emotion, and because of this, the cause is usually yourself.
- 悲しい映画は見づらい – Sad movies are painful to watch. (because they make me sad)
- わかりづらい – Hard to understand (your fault?)
- 食べづらい – Its hard to eat (too spicy, too bitter, you don’t like it).
づらい implies a decision/intent, and generally doesn’t work with verbs without intent:
- 迷いづらい – Painful to get lost accidentally. (Doesn’t make sense).
- 太りづらい – Painful to get fatter. (You aren’t making a conscious choice to get fatter)
がたい
Rare and Hard
You may also see がたい used like this. It means almost the same thing as にくい、but means something closer to “hard to do and rare”. It tends to be used with certain verbs with high frequency. In almost all cases, you may substitute にくい.
- 信じがたい – Hard to believe
- 理解しがたい – Hard to understand (written)