{"id":280,"date":"2017-10-16T14:19:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T18:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/?p=280"},"modified":"2017-10-17T14:09:22","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T18:09:22","slug":"easy-or-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guidetojapanese.org\/learn\/grammar\/easyhard","title":{"rendered":"Actions that are easy or hard to do"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. \u98df\u3079\u308b \u3010\u305f\u30fb\u3079\u308b\u3011 (ru-verb) – to eat<\/li>\n
  2. \u3057\u3083\u3079\u308b (u-verb) – to talk<\/li>\n
  3. \u3053\u306e – this \uff08abbr. of \u3053\u308c\u306e\uff09<\/li>\n
  4. \u5b57 \u3010\u3058\u3011 – character; hand-writing<\/li>\n
  5. \u8aad\u3080 \u3010\u3088\u30fb\u3080\u3011 (u-verb) – to read<\/li>\n
  6. \u30ab\u30af\u30c6\u30eb – cocktail<\/li>\n
  7. \u30d3\u30fc\u30eb – beer<\/li>\n
  8. \u98f2\u3080 \u3010\u306e\u30fb\u3080\u3011 (u-verb) – to drink<\/li>\n
  9. \u90e8\u5c4b \u3010\u3078\u30fb\u3084\u3011 – room<\/li>\n
  10. \u6697\u3044 \u3010\u304f\u3089\u30fb\u3044\u3011 (i-adj) – dark<\/li>\n
  11. \u898b\u308b \u3010\u307f\u30fb\u308b\u3011 (ru-verb) – to see<\/li>\n
  12. \u96e3\u3057\u3044 \u3010\u3080\u305a\u304b\u30fb\u3057\u3044\u3011 (i-adj) – difficult<\/li>\n
  13. \u6613\u3057\u3044 \u3010\u3084\u3055\u30fb\u3057\u3044\u3011 (i-adj) – easy<\/li>\n
  14. \u7c21\u5358 \u3010\u304b\u3093\u30fb\u305f\u3093\u3011 (na-adj) – simple<\/li>\n
  15. \u5bb9\u6613 \u3010\u3088\u3046\u30fb\u3044\u3011 (na-adj) – simple<\/li>\n
  16. \u305d\u306e – that \uff08abbr. of \u305d\u308c\u306e\uff09<\/li>\n
  17. \u8089 \u3010\u306b\u304f\u3011 – meat<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is a short easy lesson on how to transform verbs into adjectives describing whether that action is easy or difficult to do. Basically, it consists of changing the verb into the stem and adding \u300c\u3084\u3059\u3044\u300d for easy and \u300c\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d for hard. The result then becomes a regular i-adjective. Pretty easy, huh?<\/p>\n

    \nUsing \u300c\uff5e\u3084\u3059\u3044\u3001\uff5e\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d to describe easy and difficult actions<\/span><\/p>\n
      \n
    • To describe an action as being easy, change the verb to the stem and add \u300c\u3084\u3059\u3044\u300d. To describe an action as being difficult, attach \u300c\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d to the stem.
      \nExamples<\/p>\n
        \n
      1. \u98df\u3079\u308b<\/strike><\/em><\/span> \u2192 \u98df\u3079<\/span>\u3084\u3059\u3044<\/em> <\/li>\n
      2. \u3057\u3083\u3079\u308b<\/strike><\/em><\/span> \u2192 \u3057\u3083\u3079\u308a<\/em><\/span> \u2192 \u3057\u3083\u3079\u308a<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u3044<\/em> <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
        The result becomes a regular i-adjective.<\/caption>\n
        <\/th>\nPositive<\/th>\nNegative<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
        Non-Past<\/th>\n\u98df\u3079<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u3044<\/em><\/td>\n\u98df\u3079<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u304f\u306a\u3044<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
        Past<\/th>\n\u98df\u3079<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u304b\u3063\u305f<\/em><\/td>\n\u98df\u3079<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u304f\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

        <\/center><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

        Examples<\/h3>\n
          \n
        1. \u3053\u306e<\/span>\u5b57<\/span>\u306f\u8aad\u307f<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u3044<\/em>
          \nThis hand-writing is hard to read.\n<\/li>\n
        2. \u30ab\u30af\u30c6\u30eb<\/span>\u306f\u30d3\u30fc\u30eb<\/span>\u3088\u308a\u98f2\u307f<\/span>\u3084\u3059\u3044<\/em>\u3002
          \nCocktails are easier to drink than beer.\n<\/li>\n
        3. \u90e8\u5c4b<\/span>\u304c\u6697\u304b\u3063\u305f<\/span>\u306e\u3067\u3001\u898b<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u304b\u3063\u305f<\/em>\u3002
          \nSince the room was dark, it was hard to see.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          As an aside: Be careful with \u300c\u898b<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d because \u300c\u919c\u3044<\/span>\u300d is a rarely used adjective meaning, “ugly”. I wonder if it’s just coincidence that “difficult to see” and “ugly” sound exactly the same?\n<\/p>\n

          Of course, you can always use some other grammatical structure that we have already learned to express the same thing using appropriate adjectives such as \u300c\u96e3\u3057\u3044<\/span>\u300d\u3001\u300c\u6613\u3057\u3044<\/span>\u300d\u3001 \u300c\u7c21\u5358<\/span>\u300d\u3001\u300c\u5bb9\u6613<\/span>\u300d\u3001etc. The following two sentences are essentially identical in meaning.\n<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. \u305d\u306e<\/span>\u8089<\/span>\u306f\u98df\u3079<\/span>\u306b\u304f\u3044<\/em>\u3002
            \nThat meat is hard to eat.\n<\/li>\n
          2. \u305d\u306e<\/span>\u8089<\/span>\u3092\u98df\u3079\u308b<\/span>\u306e\u306f\u96e3\u3057\u3044<\/span><\/em>\u3002
            \nThe thing of eating that meat is difficult.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Variations of \u300c\uff5e\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d with \u300c\uff5e\u304c\u305f\u3044\u300d and \u300c\uff5e\u3065\u3089\u3044\u300d<\/h2>\n

            Vocabulary<\/h3>\n
              \n
            1. \u5f7c \u3010\u304b\u308c\u3011 – he; boyfriend<\/li>\n
            2. \u5fd8\u308c\u308b \u3010\u308f\u3059\u30fb\u308c\u308b\u3011 (ru-verb) – to forget<\/li>\n
            3. \u601d\u3044\u51fa \u3010\u304a\u3082\u30fb\u3044\u30fb\u3067\u3011 – memories<\/li>\n
            4. \u5927\u5207 \u3010\u305f\u3044\u30fb\u305b\u3064\u3011 (na-adj) – important<\/li>\n
            5. \u3059\u308b (exception) – to do<\/li>\n
            6. \u3068\u3066\u3082 – very<\/li>\n
            7. \u4fe1\u3058\u308b \u3010\u3057\u3093\u30fb\u3058\u308b\u3011 (ru-verb) – to believe<\/li>\n
            8. \u8a71 \u3010\u306f\u306a\u3057\u3011 – story<\/li>\n
            9. \u672c\u5f53 \u3010\u307b\u3093\u30fb\u3068\u3046\u3011 – real<\/li>\n
            10. \u8d77\u3053\u308b \u3010\u304a\u3053\u30fb\u308b\u3011 (u-verb) – to happen<\/li>\n
            11. \u8f9b\u3044\u30101) \u304b\u3089\u30fb\u3044; 2) \u3064\u3089\u30fb\u3044\u3011 (i-adj) – 1) spicy; 2) painful<\/li>\n
            12. \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e \u3010\u306b\u30fb\u307b\u3093\u30fb\u3054\u3011 – Japanese (language)<\/li>\n
            13. \u8aad\u3080 \u3010\u3088\u30fb\u3080\u3011 (u-verb) – to read<\/li>\n
            14. \u5f85\u3061\u5408\u308f\u305b \u3010\u307e\u30fb\u3061\u30fb\u3042\u308f\u30fb\u305b\u3011 – meeting arrangement<\/li>\n
            15. \u5206\u304b\u308b \u3010\u308f\u30fb\u304b\u308b\u3011 (u-verb) – to understand<\/li>\n
            16. \u5834\u6240 \u3010\u3070\u30fb\u3057\u3087\u3011 – location<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              The kanji for \u300c\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d actually comes from \u300c\u96e3\u3044<\/span>\u300d which can also be read as \u300c\u304b\u305f\u3044\u300d. As a result, you can also add a voiced version \u300c\uff5e\u304c\u305f\u3044\u300d as a verb suffix to express the same thing as \u300c\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d. \u300c\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d is more common for speaking while \u300c\u304c\u305f\u3044\u300d is more suited for the written medium. \u300c\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d tends to be used for physical actions while \u300c\u304c\u305f\u3044\u300d is usually reserved for less physical actions that don’t actually require movement. However, there seems to be no hard rule on which is more appropriate for a given verb so I suggest searching for both versions in google to ascertain the popularity of a given combination. You should also always write the suffix in hiragana to prevent ambiguities in the reading.<\/p>\n

              Examples<\/h3>\n
                \n
              1. \u5f7c<\/span>\u3068\u306e\u5fd8\u308c<\/span>\u304c\u305f\u3044<\/em>\u601d\u3044\u51fa<\/span>\u3092\u5927\u5207<\/span>\u306b\u3057\u3066\u3044\u308b<\/span>\u3002
                \nI am treating importantly the hard to forget memories of and with him.\n<\/li>\n
              2. \u3068\u3066\u3082<\/span>\u4fe1\u3058<\/span>\u304c\u305f\u3044<\/em>\u8a71<\/span>\u3060\u304c\u3001\u672c\u5f53<\/span>\u306b\u8d77\u3053\u3063\u305f<\/span>\u3089\u3057\u3044\u3002
                \nIt’s a very difficult to believe story but it seems (from hearsay) that it really happened.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Yet another, more coarse variation of stem + \u300c\u306b\u304f\u3044\u300d is to use \u300c\u3065\u3089\u3044\u300d instead which is a slightly transformed version of \u300c\u8f9b\u3044<\/span>\u300d\uff08\u3064\u3089\u3044\uff09. This is not to be confused with the same \u300c\u8f9b\u3044<\/span>\u300d\uff08\u304b\u3089\u3044\uff09, which means spicy!\n<\/p>\n

                Examples<\/h3>\n
                  \n
                1. \u65e5\u672c\u8a9e<\/span>\u306f\u8aad\u307f<\/span>\u3065\u3089\u3044<\/em>\u306a\u3002
                  \nMan, Japanese is hard to read.\n<\/li>\n
                2. \u5f85\u3061\u5408\u308f\u305b<\/span>\u306f\u3001\u5206\u304b\u308a<\/span>\u3065\u3089\u3044<\/em>\u5834\u6240<\/span>\u306b\u3057\u306a\u3044<\/span>\u3067\u306d\u3002
                  \nPlease don’t pick a difficult to understand location for the meeting arrangement.\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Vocabulary \u98df\u3079\u308b \u3010\u305f\u30fb\u3079\u308b\u3011 (ru-verb) – to eat \u3057\u3083\u3079\u308b (u-verb) – to talk \u3053\u306e – this \uff08abbr. of \u3053\u308c\u306e\uff09 \u5b57 \u3010\u3058\u3011 – character; hand-writing \u8aad\u3080 \u3010\u3088\u30fb\u3080\u3011 (u-verb) – to read \u30ab\u30af\u30c6\u30eb – cocktail \u30d3\u30fc\u30eb – beer \u98f2\u3080 \u3010\u306e\u30fb\u3080\u3011 (u-verb) – to drink \u90e8\u5c4b \u3010\u3078\u30fb\u3084\u3011 – room \u6697\u3044 \u3010\u304f\u3089\u30fb\u3044\u3011 (i-adj) – dark \u898b\u308b \u3010\u307f\u30fb\u308b\u3011 (ru-verb) – to … <\/p>\n

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