難しい

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. 日本語は難しいですが、面白いです。▶ —
   Japanese is hard but fun.
2. それは難しい問題ですね。▶ —
   That's a tough question.

Collocations

Mnemonic

むずかしい — 難しい, a Yamato stem with the kanji 難. An i-adjective. The kanji 難 has 'difficulty, disaster' as its core sense. The literal meaning is simple ── 'difficult'. The opposite of 易しい yasashii (easy). But this word wears a second face in Japanese society ── 難しい顔 (a difficult face): a furrowed, troubled expression. In the workplace, 難しいですね ('it's a bit difficult') is not a direct 'no' but a soft refusal ── a social signal of withholding a decision or declining indirectly. The Korean 'eoryeopgennundeyo' carries exactly the same social code ── the East Asian grammar of indirect refusal. In the onyomi なん nan ── 困難 konnan (hardship), 避難 hinan (evacuation). Sister to the Korean reading nan.

Quick check

1. Social meaning of "難しいですね" in a Japanese meeting?

   • Soft refusal / hold (avoiding direct No)
   • Academic difficulty assessment
   • Simple exclamation
   • Agreement