～やすい / ～にくい / ～づらい: How to Say "Easy to Do" and "Hard to Do" in Japanese

To say "easy to do" and "hard to do" in Japanese, use four suffixes that attach to a verb stem: ～やすい, ～にくい, ～づらい, and the literary ～がたい.¹²³⁴ Picking the right one turns a vague "hard" into a precise statement about whether the difficulty is physical, felt, or near-impossible.

Overview

All four are suffixes (接尾語) that attach to the verb 連用形 (the ます-stem) and build a compound that conjugates as an い-adjective.¹²³⁴ Together, they form one ease-and-difficulty system: one says an action is easy or likely, and three rank how it is hard.

～やすい means "easy to do" and, in a second sense, "prone to" happening.¹ ～にくい is the neutral, objective "hard to do."² ～づらい names a difficulty the doer feels as strain or discomfort.³ ～がたい marks an action as all but impossible, in written register.⁴

デジタル大辞泉 names ～やすい and ～にくい as an explicit antonym pair. Its にくい entry lists やすい as the opposite (⇔やすい).²

The ease/difficulty system at a glance

Suffix	Kanji	Meaning	Register	JLPT
～やすい	易い	easy to do; prone to / tends to	neutral	N45
～にくい	難い／悪い	hard to do (objective, physical, structural); resistant to	neutral	N46
～づらい	辛い	hard or uncomfortable to do (subjective, psychological or bodily strain)	neutral-to-casual	N47
～がたい	難い	all but impossible to do	literary / written	above N4, commonly N3–N289

がたい sits above the rest of the set

～やすい, ～にくい, and ～づらい are core N4 material. ～がたい is the higher-level outlier: references disagree on its tag, with Bunpro listing it as N3 and 日本語NET as N2.⁸⁹ Treat it as above N4, commonly N3 to N2. It is literary, not something to reach for in everyday speech.

Form and conjugation

Building the compound: verb stem + suffix

Each of the four suffixes attaches to the verb 連用形, the ます-stem, which is the verb with ます removed.¹²³⁴ デジタル大辞泉 states for each suffix 「動詞の連用形に付く」 ("attaches to the verb 連用形").¹²³⁴

The recipe uses the same stem you already use for the polite ます-form: 分かる → 分かり → 分かりやすい, just as 分かります drops to 分かり.¹⁰

For する-verbs (verbs ending in する), する becomes the 連用形 し: 想像する → 想像し → 想像しがたい.⁹

この辞書じしょは使つかいやすい。⁵
"This dictionary is easy to use."

この漢字かんじは覚おぼえにくいです。¹¹
"This kanji is hard to memorize."

その話はなしは言いいづらい。³
"That is an awkward thing to bring up."

彼かれの言いうことは信しんじがたい。⁴
"What he says is hard to believe."

～がたい attaches to a 連用形 in the same way. In practice, though, it is fixed to a narrow verb set rather than freely productive across all verbs the way ～やすい and ～にくい are.⁹

The compound inflects as an い-adjective

Each suffix is itself an い-adjective, so the whole compound conjugates as one (形容詞型活用, "adjective-type conjugation").² デジタル大辞泉 tags にくい explicitly as 「形容詞型活用」.²

That means 食べやすい inflects exactly like a plain い-adjective: 食べやすくない (negative), 食べやすかった (past), 食べやすくて (te-form), 食べやすければ (conditional).¹²⁵¹⁰ Because にくい, づらい, and がたい also end in い, they behave the same way: 読みにくかった, 言いづらくない, 信じがたくて.²³⁴

昔むかしのこの薬くすりは飲のみにくかった。⁶
"This medicine used to be hard to take."

字じが大おおきくて読よみやすくなった。⁵
"The letters got big, so it became easy to read."

説明せつめいがわかりやすければ助たすかる。⁵
"It helps if the explanation is easy to follow."

Nominalizing with 〜さ

The productive nominalizer 〜さ attaches to the 語幹 (stem) of an い-adjective to form a noun of degree, property, or state. デジタル大辞泉 defines 〜さ as attaching to 形容詞・形容動詞の語幹 (the stems of い-adjectives and な-adjectives) with the sense 「…の状態であること、…の程度であること、…の性質であること」 ("the state, degree, or property of ...").¹³

Because the やすい and にくい compounds are themselves い-adjectives, 〜さ attaches directly to them: 読みやすい → 読みやすさ, 使いやすい → 使いやすさ, 読みにくい → 読みにくさ.¹³

このアプリは使つかいやすさが評判ひょうばんだ。¹³
"This app is known for how easy it is to use."

字じの読よみやすさを比くらべる。¹³
"We compare how easy the fonts are to read."

この道具どうぐは扱あつかいにくさが問題もんだいだ。¹³
"The problem with this tool is how hard it is to handle."

Nuance and usage contexts

やすい: easy, smooth, prone-to

デジタル大辞泉 gives ～やすい two senses.¹ The first is 「行うのがやさしい」 (easy to perform), as in 読みやすい and 使いやすい.¹ The second is 「そうなりがちである」 or 「とかく…する傾向にある」 (prone to becoming or tending toward), as in 壊れやすい, さびやすい, and 風邪をひきやすい.¹

In the prone-to sense, やすい freely attaches to non-volitional (無意志, not controlled by the doer) verbs and change-of-state verbs: 壊れやすい, 太りやすい, 怒りやすい.¹¹⁰

The thing that is easy or prone is marked with は or が. The construction describes a property of that thing rather than an action by an agent (この本は読みやすい, 字が見やすい).¹⁰

白しろい服ふくは汚よごれやすい。⁵
"White clothes get dirty easily."

彼女かのじょは話はなしやすい人ひとだ。¹⁰
"She is an easy person to talk to."

この季節きせつは風邪かぜを引ひきやすい。¹
"You catch colds easily this time of year."

にくい: objective, physical difficulty

デジタル大辞泉 glosses ～にくい as 「…することがむずかしい、…しづらい、…しがたい」 ("hard to do ..."), attaching to the 動詞の連用形 (verb 連用形), tagged 形容詞型活用, with やすい as its antonym.²

日本語NET splits the meaning by verb type.¹¹ With volitional (意志, controlled) verbs it reads 「〜するのが難しい」 (hard to perform), as in 食べにくい and 読みにくい.¹¹ With non-volitional (無意志, not controlled) verbs it reads 「なかなか〜しない（性質）」 (does not readily happen, as a property), as in 燃えにくい, 壊れにくい, and 割れにくい.¹¹

にくい is the neutral, objective default. It is also the only one of the "hard" trio that freely attaches to non-volitional verbs, as in 燃えにくい, "not easily flammable."¹⁴¹¹ These non-volitional verbs are typically the intransitive half of a transitivity pair (割れる against 割る, 燃える against 燃やす). It derives from the adjective 難い (かたい or にくい); the kanji also appears as 悪い in older orthography.²

焼やき魚ざかなは骨ほねが多おおくて食たべにくい。¹¹
"Grilled fish is hard to eat because of all the bones."

このコップは割われにくい。¹¹
"This cup is hard to break."

この素材そざいは燃もえにくい。¹¹
"This material does not catch fire easily."

づらい: subjective, psychological or bodily strain

デジタル大辞泉 says ～づらい attaches to the 動詞の連用形 and 「その動作をするのに困難を感じる意を表す」 (expresses feeling difficulty in performing that action). Its examples are 歩きづらい, 読みづらい, and 書きづらい.³

The kanji is 辛い, the same character as つらい, "painful." The suffix carries that sense of the doer feeling strain or reluctance.³⁷ cotohajime frames the split this way: 「〜づらい」・・・何かをするときに体力と精神に負担を感じるとき (when doing something feels physically or mentally burdensome).¹⁴

Because づらい names a felt difficulty, it pairs with volitional verbs done by an animate experiencer. It resists pure non-volitional events such as 太る or 燃える, where にくい is used instead.¹⁴¹⁵

このカップは小ちいさくて飲のみづらい。⁷
"This cup is small, so it is awkward to drink from."

答こたえづらいことを聞きかれた。⁷
"I was asked something that was hard to answer."

づらい reads more subjective than にくい

づらい comes across as somewhat more conversational and personal than にくい. When the difficulty is objective and the writing is neutral, にくい is the safer choice.¹⁴¹¹

がたい: the literary near-impossible

デジタル大辞泉 says ～がたい (難い) attaches to the 動詞の連用形 and means 「…しにくい。…するのがむずかしい」 (hard to do ...). It expresses that the action is difficult to the point of near-impossibility; its examples are 得がたい, 信じがたい, and いわく言いがたい.⁴ がたい is the voiced form of the adjective かたい (難い): 「形容詞『かた（難）い』の濁音化」.⁴

日本語NET gives the meaning as 「〜するのが難しい」 (hard to do) but adds 「『能力的にできない』ということには使わない」, meaning that it is not used for inability based on lack of skill.⁹ It attaches mainly to verbs of thought, feeling, and utterance such as 信じる, 許す, 理解する, 受け入れる, and 想像する.⁹

がたい marks the top of the difficulty scale: almost impossible, above にくい (hard but possible) and づらい (reluctant or strained).⁸

あの残酷ざんこくな事件じけんは信しんじがたい。⁹
"That cruel incident is hard to believe."

本当ほんとうに許ゆるしがたい行為こういだ。⁹
"It is a truly unforgivable act."

当時とうじの苦労くろうは想像そうぞうしがたい。⁹
"The hardship of that time is hard to imagine."

Choosing between にくい, づらい, and がたい

The three "hard" suffixes sort by the kind of difficulty and the register. Use ～にくい for an objective, physical, or structural obstacle, or for a non-volitional "resistant" property. It is the neutral default and the only one that freely takes non-volitional verbs.¹⁴¹¹ Use ～づらい for a personal, emotional, or bodily strain felt by the doer of a controllable action.³¹⁴ Use ～がたい for an almost-impossible action in formal or written style, on a narrow thought-feeling-utterance verb set.⁸⁹

The volition and controllability filter is the sharpest divider. A non-volitional verb such as 太る, 燃える, or 割れる can take only にくい, never づらい.¹⁴¹⁵

この床ゆかは滑すべりにくい。¹⁴
"This floor is slip-resistant."

足あしを痛いためて歩あるきづらい。³
"I hurt my foot, so it is hard to walk."

その提案ていあんは受うけ入いれがたい。⁹
"That proposal is hard to accept."

Good to know

Why uncontrollable verbs only take にくい

The most common slip is putting づらい (or やすい in the difficulty sense) on an uncontrollable verb. A learner who wants "this constitution does not gain weight easily" may reach for 太りづらい. But 太る is a non-volitional (無意志) verb, and づらい names a difficulty the doer feels in a controllable action.¹⁴¹⁵ Non-volitional verbs take only にくい, which here carries the objective-property reading.

この体質たいしつは太ふとりにくい。¹⁴
"This constitution does not gain weight easily."

The same logic gives 割れにくい食器 (break-resistant dishes) and 燃えにくい素材 (flame-resistant material).¹⁴¹¹

がたい is near-impossibility, not plain inability

A second slip is using がたい for ability-based or merely physical difficulty. If meat is too tough to chew, the difficulty is physical, so この肉は硬くて食べがたい is wrong. がたい is explicitly not used for inability based on lack of skill (能力的にできないことには使わない).⁹ It expresses near-impossibility, usually psychological or moral, on thought, feeling, and utterance verbs, in written register.

この肉にくは硬かたくて食たべにくい。⁹
"The meat is tough, so it is hard to eat."

にくい and がたい share the 難い root

がたい is literally 「形容詞『かた（難）い』の濁音化」 (the voiced form of the adjective かたい), and にくい is also written 難い.²⁴ Recognizing the shared 難 root links the two "hard" suffixes. It also explains why がたい reads as the strongest of them: it is かたい (firmly difficult) with a voiced opening.⁴

づらい is the suffix form of 辛い (つらい)

づらい is the suffix reading of 辛い, the kanji for つらい, "painful."³ That origin surfaces when the word is written in kanji. It also explains the nuance: づらい marks difficulty felt as strain or discomfort by the doer, unlike the neutral にくい.³¹⁴

The suffix やすい is 易い, not 安い or 易しい

Do not write the suffix with the 安い "cheap" kanji: 食べ安い is wrong. The suffix やすい is 易い, "easy," and is usually written in kana as 食べやすい. It can also be written with the suffix kanji as 食べ易い.¹ It is distinct from the standalone adjective 易しい (やさしい), "easy" or "simple."¹

The four suffixes are compound adjectives, not separate words

Each compound is a single い-adjective built from a verb stem plus an adjective-forming suffix, not a verb followed by an independent word. Treat 食べやすい as one adjective, just like 読みやすい and 飲みづらい. That is what lets the whole compound inflect as 食べやすかった or 食べやすくない.²

See also

• Compound Verbs in Japanese (複合動詞): The V1-Stem + V2 Pattern
• The ～たい Form: How to Say "Want To Do" in Japanese
• Adjective Te-Form in Japanese: How to Link with くて and で
• ～出す, ～切る, ～込む, ～直す in Japanese: V2 Aspect Suffixes (Sudden Onset, Completion, Inward/Depth, Redo)

References

Footnotes

1. デジタル大辞泉（小学館）. 「やすい【▽易い】」(接尾語), entry hosted on Weblio 辞書. https://www.weblio.jp/content/やすい ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

2. デジタル大辞泉（小学館）. 「にくい【▽難い／▽悪い】」(接尾語), entry hosted on Weblio 辞書. https://www.weblio.jp/content/にくい ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

3. デジタル大辞泉（小学館）. 「づらい【▽辛い】」(接尾語), entry hosted on Weblio 辞書. https://www.weblio.jp/content/づらい ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

4. デジタル大辞泉（小学館）. 「がたい【難い】」(接尾語), entry hosted on Weblio 辞書. https://www.weblio.jp/content/がたい ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

5. Bunpro. "やすい (JLPT N4)." Grammar reference page. (limitation) https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/やすい ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

6. Bunpro. "にくい (JLPT N4)." Grammar reference page. (limitation) https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/にくい ↩ ↩²

7. Bunpro. "づらい (JLPT N4)." Grammar reference page. (limitation) https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/づらい ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

8. Bunpro. "がたい (JLPT N3)." Grammar reference page. (limitation) https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/がたい ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. 日本語NET（日本語教師のためのサイト）. 「【JLPT N2】文法・例文：〜がたい」. (limitation) https://nihongokyoshi-net.com/2018/06/27/jlptn2-grammar-gatai/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

10. Maggie Sensei. "V + やすい & V + にくい." (limitation) https://maggiesensei.com/2013/08/24/v-やすい-v-にくい-v-yasui-v-nikui/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

11. 日本語NET（日本語教師のためのサイト）. 「【JLPT N4】文法・例文：〜にくい」. (limitation) https://nihongokyoshi-net.com/2019/05/01/jlptn4-grammar-nikui/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

12. Makino, Seiichi and Michio Tsutsui. A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. The Japan Times, 1986. (やすい/にくい entries; cited as a grammar-reference basis on Bunpro's やすい and にくい pages.) https://bunpro.jp/grammar_points/やすい ↩

13. デジタル大辞泉（小学館）. 「さ」(接尾語), entry hosted on Weblio 辞書. https://www.weblio.jp/content/さ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

14. 日本語教師応援サイト コトハジメ (cotohajime). 「『〜にくい』と『〜づらい』の使い分け」. (limitation) https://cotohajime.net/nikui-vs-zurai/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²

15. 日本語教師の広場 (tomojuku). 「意志動詞と無意志動詞」. (limitation) https://www.tomojuku.com/blog/verb-2/ ↩ ↩² ↩³