Learn にくい and づらい: Japanese Adjectives for Difficulty

In today’s article, we will learn how to say that an action is difficult to perform using the adjectives にくい (nikui) and づらい (dzurai). We have already written an article detailing how to say that an action is easy to perform.

To say that an action is difficult in Japanese, you must add にくい or づらい after the word or verb in place of ます or う. See the example below:

漢字は読みにくいです。
Kanji wa yomi nikuidesu.

Kanji is difficult to read.

These words have kanji, for example: にくい (nikui) can be written as 難い. On the other hand,  づらい (dzurai) can be written as 辛い, but it is not common to use the kanji when the word is used at the end of a verb.

にくい  vs づらい

Do you know the difference between にくい and づらい? When should I use each one? The word づらい, besides meaning difficult, means painful, so dzurai usually has a more subjective meaning while nikui has a more objective meaning. Furthermore, the word づらい is limited to intentional actions.

There is also  がたい which means difficult and uses the same kanji nikui (難い).  This word is more commonly used to express that an action is very difficult, virtually impossible. You need to understand the scenario and context to use the right word after the verb.

Example sentences:

Below we will leave some example sentences, mostly about づらい, since we will provide a video lesson and sentences only about にくい.

とにかく、言いづらい事を打ち明けてくれてうれしいよ。
Tonikaku, ii dzurai koto o uchiakete kurete ureshī yo.

Anyway, I’m glad you were able to bring up this difficult topic.

これは説明せつめいしづらいです
Kore wa setsumei setsumei shi dzuraidesu

This is difficult to explain.

これは言いいづらいです。
Kore wa ii dzuraidesu.

This is difficult to say.

この肉は食にくいです。
Kono niku wa tabe nikuidesu.

This meat is difficult to eat.

君の言うことは信じがたい。
Kimi no iu koto wa shinji gatai.

I find it hard to believe. (impossible).

Video lesson にくい

To conclude and complement the article, we will leave a video lesson from our teacher Luiz Rafael talking about にくい.

この辞書は重たくて持ちにくいです。
Kono jisho wa omotakute mochi nikuidesu.

This dictionary is heavy and difficult to carry.

• この：this
• 辞書（じしょ）：dictionary
• 重たい（おもたい）：heavy
• 持つ（もつ）：carry
• にくい：difficult

僕はフォークとナイフのほうが使いにくいと思います。
Boku wa fōku to naifu no hō ga tsukai nikui to omoimasu.

I think that fork and knife are more difficult to use.

• 僕（ぼく）：I
• フォーク：fork
• ナイフ：knife
• ほうが：more (in the sense of comparison)
• 使う（つかう）：use
• にくい：difficult
• 思う（おもう）：think

この教科書の例文がわかりにくい。
Kono kyōkasho no reibun ga wakari nikui.

The example sentences in this textbook are difficult to understand.

• この：this
• 教科書（きょうかしょ）：textbook
• 例文（れいぶん）：example sentences
• わかる：understand
• にくい：difficult

印刷が見にくい
Insatsu ga minikui

The print is difficult to see.

• 印刷（いんさつ）：print
• 見る（みる）：see
• にくい：difficult