Structure
Verb［stem］+ にくい
Details
Standard
About にくい
Like 易い, にくい is an い-Adjective that is regularly attached to the ます stem of verbs. However, instead of meaning 'easy to (A)', it means 'difficult to (A)'. (A) will always represent the verb that comes before にくい.
The nuance of にくい is that (A) is a task that is difficult to do, because of the required skill level, or similar factors. This is different from づらい, which focuses more on a task that is difficult due to being unbearable/hard to endure for some reason.
Fun Fact
An easy way to remember the difference in nuance between にくい and づらい, is that にくい comes from the same kanji as 難しい, which usually carries the meaning of 'difficulty' (in relation to skill being required).
Antonyms
Related
Examples
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甘くないケーキは、食べにくいです。
Cakes that aren't sweet are hard to eat.
アフリカには行きにくいです。
It is hard to go to Africa.
怖いことはしにくいです。
It is difficult to do scary things.
あの人とは話しにくいです。
That person is hard to talk to. (Unapproachable)
このコップ、形が変だから飲みにくい。
Because this cup has a strange shape, it is hard to drink out of.
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[AIAIJ] An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese
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[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
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Genki II 1st Edition
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Genki II 2nd Edition
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Marugoto Elementary 2 (A2) Rikai
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Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
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みんなの日本語 II
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にくい – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (4 in total)
weebtronic
I don’t really understand the 〜にくい／〜づらい difference. The explanation is that “the nuance of にくい is that (A) is a task that is difficult to do, because of the required skill level, or similar factors.”; but then the first example sentence is “Cakes that aren’t sweet are hard to eat”, and I don’t see how eating non-sweet cakes is a matter of skill? づらい would actually seem to fit better following Bunpro’s explanation
Dasutin
(post deleted by author)
Dasutin
It has taken me some time to get comfortable with these grammar points, but I think I’m getting an intuitive idea after hearing it “in the wild.”
If you are making a judgment about the quality of something, then にくい is better. So when you say “Cakes that aren’t sweet are hard to eat” it’s like you are making a judgment about the quality of the cake, rather than focusing on how you feel when you eat it. If you use づらい here it’s more like you feel uneasy about eating the cake for some reason.
Generally, use にくい about things that are kind of objective, such as something not functioning well (in the cake example, an unsweet cake is not functioning well as a dessert). づらい is more about your subjective feeling in that moment.
As an example, there are some sentences in the づらい point where you might have expected to see にくい instead. For example, one of them was 後ろの席からは見えづらい.
If you use にくい it’s more like a factual statement “Visibility from the back seat is poor” wh...
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