難い
か
た
い
難い · i-adjective
| Form | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary | 難い | 難くない |
| Polite | 難いです | 難くないですalso 難くありません |
| Past polite | 難かったです | 難くなかったですalso 難くありませんでした |
| Past | 難かった | 難くなかった |
| Te-form | 難くて | 難くなくて |
| Adverbial | 難く | |
| Conditional | 難ければ | 難くなければ |
| Tara conditional | 難かったら | 難くなかったら |
Meanings
1
difficult; hard to do
formal or literary
Formal or literary い-adjective. In modern Japanese it is especially familiar in written expressions such as 想像に難くない, “not hard to imagine”; ordinary conversation usually uses 難しい instead.
It is not hard to imagine how frustrated she must have been.
Usage patterns
- 〈動詞〉難いhard to (do a verb) — attaches to a verb's stem
His story is hard to believe.
Expressions
- に難くないnot hard to ...; it is easy to imagine/understand that ...
- 故郷忘じ難しthere is no place like home; home is sweet to an exile
- ありがたくいただくaccept with thanks
- 孤掌鳴らし難しone cannot live solely by oneself; one cannot accomplish anything solely by oneself
- 生は難く死は易しliving is difficult; dying is easy
- 兄たり難く弟たり難しboth are equally excellent; hard to say which is better