🌸 Japanese Topic 114中級🌻 Intermediate

〜やすい・〜にくい

~yasui / ~nikui

Easy to do / Hard to do

🌸 Expressing Ease and Difficulty of Actions 🌸

💬 Dialogue

🌸 Ease and Difficulty 🌸

ケン：このペンはとても書きやすいですね。

Kono pen wa totemo kakiyasui desu ne.

This pen is very easy to write with, isn't it?

マリ：そうですね。でも、その漢字は少し書きにくいです。

Sou desu ne. Demo, sono kanji wa sukoshi kakinikui desu.

That's true. But that kanji is a bit difficult to write.

ケン：この説明書は分かりやすいですよ。

Kono setsumeisho wa wakariyasui desu yo.

This instruction manual is easy to understand.

マリ：本当だ。前のより読みやすいです。

Hontou da. Mae no yori yomiyasui desu.

You're right. It's easier to read than the previous one.

ケン：この靴は歩きにくいから、疲れました。

Kono kutsu wa arukinikui kara, tsukaremashita.

These shoes are hard to walk in, so I'm tired.

マリ：それは大変ですね。あそこの椅子は座りやすいですよ。

Sore wa taihen desu ne. Asoko no isu wa suwariyasui desu yo.

That's too bad. The chairs over there are easy to sit in.

📖 Vocabulary

5 words

KanaRomajiEnglish

かきやすいkakiyasuieasy to write

わかりやすいwakariyasuieasy to understand

あるきにくいarukinikuihard to walk

よみやすいyomiyasuieasy to read

すわりやすいsuwariyasuieasy to sit

⭐ Key Sentence

V-ますやすい / にくい

V-masu yasui / nikui

Easy to [Verb] / Hard to [Verb]

Pattern: Verb (stem) + やすい / にくい
Meaning: Expresses the degree of ease or difficulty in performing an action.

この薬は飲みやすいです。

Kono kusuri wa nomiyasui desu.

This medicine is easy to swallow (drink).

ここは道が狭くて、運転しにくいです。

Koko wa michi ga semakute, untenshinikui desu.

The roads are narrow here, so it's hard to drive.

🎓 Explanation

To express that something is easy or difficult to do, you attach やすい or にくい to the stem of a verb (the form before 'masu').

For example, 書きます (kakimasu) becomes 書きやすい (kakiyasui) for 'easy to write' and 書きにくい (kakinikui) for 'hard to write'.

Once attached, the whole phrase conjugates like an i-adjective. For example, the past tense of 'easy to read' is 読みやすかったです.

Tsukai yasui desu.
= 'It is easy to use.'

Oboe nikui desu.
= 'It is hard to remember.'

📝 Quiz