also: やくしがたい
訳しにくい · i-adjective
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 訳しにくい | 訳しにくくない |
| Polite | 訳しにくいです | 訳しにくくないですalso 訳しにくくありません |
| Past polite | 訳しにくかったです | 訳しにくくなかったですalso 訳しにくくありませんでした |
| Past | 訳しにくかった | 訳しにくくなかった |
| Te-form | 訳しにくくて | 訳しにくくなくて |
| Adverbial | 訳しにくく | |
| Conditional | 訳しにくければ | 訳しにくくなければ |
| Tara conditional | 訳しにくかったら | 訳しにくくなかったら |
difficult to translate; untranslatable
Describes something that is hard to render in another language, often because of cultural or linguistic differences. 訳しにくい is the everyday form; 訳し難い (やくしがたい) sounds more formal or emphatic.
This poem is difficult to translate because of all the wordplay.
日本語の「お疲れさま」は英語に訳しにくい表現だ。
The Japanese expression 'otsukaresama' is hard to translate into English.
Standard spelling using the auxiliary adjective にくい.
Kanji spelling for にくい; also read やくしがたい in more formal or literary contexts.
Formal/literary reading using がたい; less common in everyday speech.
Compound of 訳し (continuative form of 訳す 'to translate') + にくい ('difficult to do').