～づらい

How to form it

• Verb (ます-stem) + づらい

Register: Neutral; spoken and written

Explanation

Says that something is hard to do because it is unpleasant, awkward or embarrassing.

The difficulty is practical or emotional. It sits between にくい (hard) and いやだ (unpleasant).

Examples

1. この靴は歩きづらい。

   このくつはあるきづらい。

   These shoes are hard to walk in.

2. 字が小さくて、読みづらい。

   じがちいさくて、よみづらい。

   The text is small and hard to read.

3. 彼女には言いづらいことがある。

   かのじょにはいいづらいことがある。

   There's something that is hard to tell her.

Compare with

• ～がたい: がたい is formal and about the nature of things; づらい is conversational and practical.

Common mistakes

• Using it for impossibility. It says something is hard or awkward, not impossible.