Easy & Hard: ～やすい & ～にくい

Nominalising verbs already gives us one way to say that something is easy or hard to do.

日本語にほんごで新聞しんぶんを読よむのが難むずかしいです。

It’s difficult to read a newspaper in Japanese.

スイカカードがあれば日本にほんで電車でんしゃに乗のるのが簡単かんたんです。

If you have a Suica card, getting on the train in Japan is easy.

Another way to form these expressions is to use the following structures:

• 【Verb: Stem】やすい (Easy to do)
• 【Verb: Stem】にくい (Hard to do)

Critical Rule: Particle Change

Because adding 〜やすい or 〜にくい turns the verb into an i-adjective, it often describes the characteristic of a specific object. When this happens, the direct object particle を changes to the subject particle が. (e.g., 薬を飲む → この薬が飲みやすい).

Once in this form, the word acts and conjugates exactly like a standard i-adjective.

働はたらきやすい職場環境しょくばかんきょう。

A work environment that is easy to work in.

わかりやすく説明せつめいしてください。

Please explain it to me in a way that’s easy to understand.

彼女かのじょが友達ともだちと一緒いっしょにいて、話はなし掛かけにくかったよ。

She was with her friends so it was hard to strike up a conversation.

While the meaning is similar, there is a distinct nuance between the nominalized form and the verb stem structures. The nominalized form (〜のが簡単) focuses on the act or task itself. The 〜やすい / 〜にくい structures focus on the properties of the object or person that make the action easy or hard.

Expressing Tendency (Prone to…)

The 〜やすい and 〜にくい structures are also heavily used to express psychological or physical tendencies—meaning something is “prone to” or “likely to” happen, even if it isn’t an intended outcome.

間違まちがえやすいです。

Prone to making a mistake. (Easy to make a mistake).

このグラスは割われやすいから、気きをつけてください。

This glass breaks easily (is fragile), so please be careful.

Compare this to nominalizing: 間違えるのが簡単です (Making a mistake is an easy task). Using 〜やすい is much more natural here, as you clearly don’t intend to perform the “task” of making a mistake.

Cultural Context: Soft Refusals

It is worth mentioning that saying something is difficult by nominalizing the verb in Japanese is very often used to mean that you cannot do something that has been requested of you. Culturally speaking, refusing directly might be considered a little too harsh, so instead, the person says it is “difficult” and assumes the real meaning is implied. This euphemistic usage does not usually apply to 〜にくい.

すみません。領収書りょうしゅうしょがなければ返金へんきんするのは難むずかしいですが。

My apologies. We cannot issue a refund without a receipt.

Note the use of the が particle at the end of the sentence to further soften the refusal.