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文法 · JLPT N4 grammar
〜やすい・〜にくい
yasui, nikui · easy to ~ / hard to ~
The verb stem plus やすい means easy to do, and plus にくい hard to do: 読みやすい本 (an easy-to-read book), 歩きにくい道 (a road hard to walk on).
How to form it
| Stem + やすい | 分かりやすい |
| Stem + にくい | 食べにくい |
How it is used
Both conjugate like い-adjectives: 書きやすかった, 使いにくくない.
やすい can also mean likely to: 「冬は風邪をひきやすい」.
Examples
Tap a kanji for its reading.
- この辞書は使いやすいです。This dictionary is easy to use.
- 先生の説明は分かりやすいです。The teacher's explanations are easy to understand.
- この靴は歩きにくいです。These shoes are hard to walk in.
- 冬は風邪をひきやすいです。It's easy to catch a cold in winter.
Practice: 6 JLPT questions using 〜やすい・〜にくい
（ ）に入る言葉を選びなさい。
I bought a new dictionary. The old one was small and the letters were hard to read. This dictionary has big letters, so it is very easy to read.
この 本は ＿＿ ＿＿ ★ ＿＿ そうです。
This book looks easy to read, even for children.
返す人が多い理由は何だというか。
The shopping street by the station has a 'shared umbrella' scheme. Someone caught by sudden rain can freely borrow an umbrella from a basket outside a shop and return it later to any shop — not necessarily the one they borrowed from.
When it started, some worried the umbrellas wouldn't come back, but in practice about 80% are returned. With so many places to return them, it's easy, they say.
The other 20% don't come back. The scheme survives anyway because the umbrellas are supplied by donations of old ones.
Q: Why do many people return them? — There are many return points, so it's easy.
（ ）に入る言葉を選びなさい。
At my company there is a cleaning day once a month. Usually the cleaners do it, but on that day every employee tidies their own desk. Thanks to that, work has become easier to do.
この 漢字は むずかしくて、（ ）にくいです。
This kanji is difficult and hard to remember.
説明がわかりにくかったので、もう一度（ ）してもらった。
The explanation was hard to follow, so I had it confirmed once more.