〜やすい/〜にくい — JLPT N3 Grammar

Pattern: 〜やすい / 〜にくい

Structure:

Verb (masu-stem) + やすい → "easy to do ~, prone to ~" (i-adjective)
Verb (masu-stem) + にくい → "hard/difficult to do ~" (i-adjective)

Formality: Standard (spoken and written)

Meaning: 〜やすい: "easy to ~, tends to ~" / 〜にくい: "hard to ~, difficult to ~"

Explanation

These patterns describe an inherent quality of an object or situation — how easy or difficult it is to perform the action on it. They function as i-adjectives and can be fully conjugated (〜やすかった, 〜にくくない, etc.).

〜やすい has two uses:

Easy to do: 「この本は読みやすい」(this book is easy to read)
Prone to / liable to: 「雨の日は事故が起きやすい」(accidents are prone to happen on rainy days)

Key rule: The subject of 〜やすい/〜にくい is the thing being acted upon, not the person doing the action.

Example Sentences

Japanese	Reading	Romaji	English
このフォントは読みやすい。	このふぉんとはよみやすい。	Kono fonto wa yomiyasui.	This font is easy to read.
彼の説明はわかりにくかった。	かれのせつめいはわかりにくかった。	Kare no setsumei wa wakarinikukatta.	His explanation was hard to understand.
このペンは書きやすい。	このぺんはかきやすい。	Kono pen wa kakiyasui.	This pen is easy to write with.
細かい文字は読みにくい。	こまかいもじはよみにくい。	Komakai moji wa yominikui.	Small characters are hard to read.
雨の日は事故が起きやすい。	あめのひはじこがおきやすい。	Ame no hi wa jiko ga okiyasui.	On rainy days, accidents are prone to occur.

Common Mistakes

❌ 私はこの本を読みやすい。(person as main subject — wrong)
✓ この本は読みやすい。— The subject must be the thing being evaluated, not the person.

❌ 読みにくくです。(wrong conjugation — this is an i-adjective, not na-adjective)
✓ 読みにくいです。— Conjugate as i-adjective.

Comparison with Similar Patterns

Pattern	Focus	Example
〜やすい	Ease / tendency (inherent quality)	壊れやすいグラス
〜にくい	Difficulty (inherent quality)	開けにくいドア
〜がちだ	Undesirable personal tendency	忘れがちだ
〜づらい	Emotionally/physically difficult	言いづらい (hard to say — emotionally)

Note: 〜にくい expresses objective difficulty; 〜づらい (similar) expresses subjective discomfort or emotional resistance. 「言いにくい」 ≈ the words don't come out easily; 「言いづらい」 ≈ I feel reluctant/uncomfortable saying it.