- JLPT N2
~がたい
NikoJLPT N2: ～がたい (difficult to VERB)
Adding ～がたい to the ます-stem of a VERB means "difficult to VERB."
This is very similar to putting ～にくい onto the ます-stem of a VERB, which we discussed in this lesson. There are some differences, though, which we'll see in this lesson.
First, an example:
死者と会話ができるなんて信じがたい話だ。
ししゃ と かいわ が できる なんて しんじがたい はなし だ。
I find it difficult to believe that someone can speak with the dead.
～がたい has a bit of an old-fashioned ring to it. You don't hear it nearly as often as you hear ～にくい.
Also, it appears in a lot of set phrases. That is, people tend to only use it with a select number of verbs, one of which is 信じる (しんじる // to believe), which we saw above. Because people tend to only use ～がたい with certain verbs, I would recommend that you avoid randomly attaching it to whatever verbs you want.
The formula matches up with what we saw for ～やすい and ～にくい：
V ます ＋ がたい
difficult to VERB
While the general translation is "difficult to VERB," it can also carry the nuance of "impossible to VERB."
Consider how we translated the following sentence:
クロアチアで過ごした１か月は、忘れがたい思い出です。
クロアチア で すごした いっ かげつ は、 わすれがたい おもいで です。
The month that I spent in Croatia was unforgettable.
More examples, just for you:
私には理解しがたい理由で、突然仕事をクビになった。
わたし に は りかい しがたい りゆう で、 とつぜん しごと を クビ に なった。
It just doesn't make any sense to me why I was suddenly fired from my job.
For example, maybe the speaker was fired for a strange reason, like wearing a purple tie to work.
去年の大会では、耐えがたい屈辱を味わった。
きょねん の たいかい で は、 たえがたい くつじょく を あじわった。
At last year’s tournament, I suffered an unbearable disgrace.
So how is ～がたい different from ～にくい？
Aside from the fact that ～にくい is more common and ～がたい is a bit stiff-sounding, one major difference is that ～がたい should not be used when saying that something is difficult to do because of a lack of ability.
So this would be a bit odd to say:
✖ おかゆは箸では食べがたい。
✖ おかゆ は はし で は たべがたい。
✖ Okayu is difficult to eat with chopsticks.
✖ Literally: “okayu (=type of Japanese rice porridge) + は + chopsticks + で + は + difficult to eat.”
But this sounds pretty natural:
〇 おかゆは箸では食べにくい。
〇 おかゆ は はし で は たべにくい。
〇 Okayu is hard to eat with chopsticks.
Similarly, this sounds a bit odd:
✖ 鼻が詰まっていて、呼吸しがたい。
✖ はな が つまっていて、 こきゅう しがたい。
✖ My nose is stuffed, and it’s difficult to breathe.
✖ Literally: “nose + が + is clogged (and), + difficult to breathe.”
But this would be OK:
〇 鼻が詰まっていて、呼吸しにくい。
〇 はな が つまっていて、 こきゅう しにくい。
〇 My nose is stuffed, and it’s hard to breathe.
To be honest, distinctions like this confuse me. I wouldn't even worry about it if I were you.
What about ～づらい？！
None of my Japanese grammar books have any information about ～づらい, which works pretty much the same way as ～にくい：
V ます ＋ にくい
V ます ＋ づらい
hard to VERB
So we could say:
〇 おかゆは箸では食べづらい。
〇 おかゆ は はし で は たべづらい。
〇 Okayu is hard to eat with chopsticks.
～づらい comes from the i-adjective 辛い (つらい // tough; difficult; hard; painful). You have to figure out when a word is 辛い (つらい) and not 辛い (からい // spicy) based on the context of the sentence, by the way.
One phrase that I find myself saying often is わかりづらい, which means something like "(It's) hard to understand."
Or if you can't breathe well, you could say:
〇 鼻が詰まっていて、呼吸しづらい。
〇 はな が つまっていて、 こきゅう しづらい。
〇 My nose is stuffed, and it’s hard to breathe.
...but I find that I more commonly hear:
息しづらい。
いき しづらい。
It's hard to breathe.
I used to have a bad habit of forgetting the verb and saying ✖ 息づらい. Oops.
Quick Recap
Here's everything you need to remember:
V ます ＋ やすい
easy to VERB
V ます ＋ にくい
V ます ＋ づらい
hard to VERB
V ます ＋ がたい
difficult to VERB
食べる（たべる // to eat）
食べます（たべます // eat）
食べやすい（たべやすい // easy to eat）
食べにくい（たべにくい // hard to eat）
食べづらい（たべづらい // hard to eat）
食べがたい（たべがたい // difficult to eat）
Don't forget to review these past lessons:
- JLPT N4: ～やすい
- JLPT N4: ～にくい
Niko
