～にくい
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Suffix attached to the stem of a verb to indicate difficulty. For example, from 『読む』 (yomu, 'to read'), stem 『読み』 (yomi) + 『にくい』 → 『読みにくい』 (yominikui, 'hard to read').
Theme
Two coworkers, Ken and User, are discussing the challenges of learning a new software tool at their office in Tokyo.
～にくい
～にくい
difficult to do ~
Core Language Building BlocksCore Forms & Grammar Patterns
Memory Hook
Imagine trying to do something and it's so hard you say 'knee-kai' (にくい sounds like 'knee-kai') — like your knees hurt from the effort! 'Knee-kai' → ～にくい (nikui, 'difficult to do').
Cultural Note
In Japanese, adding 『～にくい』 (nikui) to verb stems is a common way to express difficulty, often used in daily conversations to describe challenging tasks, like 『読みにくい』 (yominikui, 'hard to read') for small text or 『歩きにくい』 (arukinikui, 'hard to walk') on rough terrain.
Forms
Base: ～にくいSuffix attached to the stem of a verb to indicate difficulty. For example, from 『読む』 (yomu, 'to read'), stem 『読み』 (yomi) + 『にくい』 → 『読みにくい』 (yominikui, 'hard to read').