～にかたくない・に難くない

• Reading: にかたくない
• Romaji: ni kataku nai
• Formation: Verb ます-stem + にかたくない / Noun (する verb stem) + にかたくない
• Kanji breakdown: 難 (かた) — difficult, hard

Meaning

A phrase meaning 'it is not hard to (imagine/guess/understand).' It expresses that something can easily be inferred or imagined from the circumstances.

にかたくない (に難くない) is a literary expression used to state that a certain conclusion or mental image can be reached without difficulty. It is almost exclusively used with a limited set of verbs — most commonly 想像 (imagination), 推察 (conjecture), 理解 (understanding), and 予想 (prediction). The pattern has a formal, written tone and is rarely heard in everyday conversation. It differs from やすい (easy to do), which describes ease of physical action, whereas にかたくない focuses on mental processes. Learners sometimes attempt to use it with action verbs, but it is restricted to cognitive or inferential verbs.

Examples

1. あれほどの努力を重ねた結果がこれだと知れば、彼の落胆は想像にかたくない。 If one learns that this is the result of so much effort, his disappointment is not hard to imagine.
2. 戦時中の市民の苦しみは推察にかたくない。 The suffering of civilians during wartime is not hard to infer.
3. 大規模な災害の後、被災者の心痛は理解にかたくない。 After a large-scale disaster, the heartache of the victims is not hard to understand.

Usage Guide

Context: written, essays, news

Tone: analytical

Do Say

• 長年の友人を失った悲しみは想像にかたくない。
• 機密情報が漏洩すれば企業への打撃は推察にかたくない。
• 幼少期に受けた体験がその後の人格形成に影響したことは理解にかたくない。

Don't Say

• この問題を解決するのにかたくない。(Using にかたくない with an action verb — it only pairs with cognitive verbs like 想像, 推察, 予想) → この問題が解決困難であることは予想にかたくない。
• 彼の悲しみは想像にかたい。(Using the affirmative かたい instead of the negative かたくない — the set phrase is always negative) → 彼の悲しみは想像にかたくない。

Origin & History

Composed of に (particle) and かたくない (negative form of かたい/難い, meaning 'difficult'). Literally 'not difficult to,' it is a classical-flavored construction that has been preserved in formal written Japanese.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal