やすい・
On a verb, やすい is "easy to" and にくい is "hard to": 読みやすい, 読みにくい. With something that just happens, they say it happens easily, or doesn't: 壊れやすい, "breaks easily". づらい is "hard to" as well, often because it is a strain on you or awkward.
This explanation is short and easy to understand.
The lid of this jar is tight and hard to open.
It was hard to say no in front of everyone.
How to form it
Verb ます-stem + やすい／にくい／づらい
使います → 使いやすい, 食べます → 食べにくい, します → しづらい. づらい is spelled with づ, typed "du".
Its own forms
使いやすい・使いやすくない・使いやすかった
やすい, にくい and づらい all change like an い-adjective and go straight before a noun: 使いやすいかばん.
| Something you do | Something that happens | |
|---|---|---|
| やすい | easy to do: 使いやすい | happens easily: 壊れやすい |
| にくい | hard to do: 使いにくい | doesn't happen easily: 壊れにくい |
| づらい | hard to do, often a strain or awkward: 言いづらい | (に |
Easy to do, hard to do
All three say what a thing is like to use, read or live in. English often ends with "with", "in" or "to". Japanese adds nothing.
This pen is easy to write with.
This town is quiet and easy to live in.
The new teacher is easy to talk to.
This button is hard to press when you are wearing gloves.
His name is hard to pronounce for people hearing it for the first time.
には marks who finds it hard.
Happens easily, or doesn't
With something nobody does on purpose (壊れる, 汚れる, 疲れる, 間違える), やすい says it happens readily and にくい says it doesn't. Here にくい is often good news.
Roads tend to be slippery on rainy days.
This kanji is easy to get wrong.
Nobody gets it wrong on purpose: it happens easily.
I catch colds easily.
This shirt doesn't wrinkle easily, even after washing.
A selling point. You will see 壊れにくい and 汚れにくい on packaging.
にくい or づらい?
Often either will do: small print is 読みにくい or 読みづらい. づらい comes from つらい, "tough", so it leans toward you: your body hurts, or it feels awkward to do.
This question is too broad, so it is difficult to answer.
The question is the trouble.
It is uncomfortable to answer questions about my family in front of everyone.
You could answer. You would rather not.
Either ending would fit either sentence. づらい brings out how it feels to you.
My ankle hurts, so it is difficult to walk down the stairs.
With the mood as it is right now, it feels awkward to ask why.
言いにくいんですが
This is how people open something awkward: a complaint, a refusal, bad news. 言いづらいんですが does the same.
This is hard to say, but could you be a little quieter at night?
やすい alone is "cheap"
By itself, やすい is 安い, "cheap". The "easy" one needs a verb in front of it. For an easy test, people say 簡単 or やさしい.
Sounds odd: この
This test is cheap.
For "easy": このテストは簡単です.
Close neighbours
Whether you can do it at all. にくい and づらい only say it takes effort.
This handwriting is hard to read, but I can read it if I take my time.
がたいN2
Written and formal. It goes with a small set of verbs, mostly of thinking and feeling: 信じがたい, 許しがたい.
It is hard to believe that one person made such a precise model.
Check yourself
1Which one fits?
このかばんは
Choose an answer to see why.
2A sign in a shoe shop says this. Is it praise or a warning?
この
Choose an answer to see why.
3A colleague says this. What is the trouble?
部長には
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
分かりやすく
With く on the end it says how something is done.
Please explain it a little more clearly.
More sentences
This kitchen knife is light and easy to use.
This app has a simple screen and is easy to operate.
This key is rusty and hard to turn.
This material doesn't tear easily, even when it gets wet.
These shoes are stiff-soled and hard to walk in.
The rain made the road slippery, so it was hard to walk.
That question is a little difficult to answer.
This is a lid that children find hard to open.