～にくい (hard to)

• Reading: にくい
• Romaji: nikui
• Formation: Verb ます-stem + にくい
• Kanji breakdown: 難 (なん/にく.い) — difficult, hard

Meaning

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.

Examples

1. この薬は苦くて飲みにくい。 This medicine is bitter and hard to swallow.
2. 彼の話し方は聞き取りにくいです。 His way of speaking is hard to catch.
3. この靴は歩きにくかった。 These shoes were hard to walk in.

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday

Tone: evaluative

Do Say

• 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。

Don't Say

• 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。

Origin & History

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.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal