～にくい (hard to)

Japanese Grammar Basic Japanese ★★★★ 4/5 neutral にくいnikui
読み にくい
ローマ字 nikui
形 Verb ます-stem + にくい
漢字の分解 難 (なん/にく.い) — difficult, hard

意味

A suffix attached to the ます stem of verbs to express that an action is difficult to do. It describes the inherent difficulty or resistance of something to occur.

にくい attaches to the ます stem of a verb (読み → 読みにくい, 食べ → 食べにくい) and produces an い-adjective that can be conjugated accordingly: にくかった (past), にくくない (negative), にくくて (て form). It is the opposite of やすい and the two are often learned as a pair. にくい describes objective difficulty or an inherent quality that makes an action hard to perform — it does not describe personal inability. For personal inability, the negative potential form (読めない) is more appropriate. For example, この字は読みにくい means 'this handwriting is hard to read' (because of the writing quality), while この字が読めない means 'I cannot read this character' (because of my ability). Learners sometimes confuse にくい with がたい, which also means 'hard to' but carries a stronger emotional or psychological nuance.

例文

  1. この薬は苦くて飲みにくい。
  2. 彼の話し方は聞き取りにくいです。
  3. この靴は歩きにくかった。

使い方ガイド

場面: spoken, written, everyday

トーン: evaluative

正しい言い方

  • この地図は見にくいですね。
  • 冬は朝起きにくい。
  • あの人の名前は覚えにくい。

避ける言い方

  • この漢字は書くにくい。(Using dictionary form before にくい — use ます stem: 書きにくい) → この漢字は書きにくい。
  • 走りにくいだった。(Using だ past form with い-adjective — にくい conjugates as にくかった) → 走りにくかった。

起源と歴史

にくい derives from the classical adjective 難い meaning 'difficult' or 'hard.' Combined with verb stems, it forms compound adjectives expressing that the verb's action is difficult to carry out, often due to inherent qualities of the object or situation.

文化的背景

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal

関連フレーズ

～て (て form) The て form is one of the most versatile verb and adjective conjugations in Japanese. It connects clauses, forms compound verbs, makes requests, and serves as the base for many auxiliary constructions such as ている, てしまう, and ておく. ～てくる (1) (directional) An auxiliary verb construction where くる follows the て form to express that someone or something moves toward the speaker. It indicates physical movement in the direction of the speaker's location. ～てみる (try doing) An auxiliary verb construction where みる follows the て form to express trying or attempting an action to see what happens or what it is like. It conveys the nuance of doing something experimentally or for the first time. ～ことができる (able to) A construction expressing ability or possibility. It states that doing a particular action is possible, either because of personal skill, circumstances, or permission. It is the formal equivalent of the potential form of verbs. ～すぎる (too much) An auxiliary verb attached to verb stems and adjective stems to express that something is done excessively or a state is excessive. It conveys the meaning of 'too much' or 'overly.' ～ていく (1) (moving away) An auxiliary verb construction where いく follows the て form of a verb to indicate that an action or movement proceeds in a direction away from the speaker or a reference point. It describes going somewhere while doing something, or doing something and then going. ～ていく (2) (ongoing change) An auxiliary verb construction where いく follows the て form of a verb to express that an action or state continues to change or progress from the present into the future. It describes a gradual, ongoing shift moving forward in time. ～ておく (in advance) An auxiliary verb attached to the て form indicating that an action is done in advance, in preparation for a future need or situation. It conveys the idea of doing something ahead of time and leaving the result in place.
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