づらい (zurai)
～づらい — hard to ～, awkward to ～
Pattern
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動詞ます形（語幹） ＋ づらいstem + づらい (読む → 読みづらい)
Meaning
づらい is used when doing something is hard because of some uncomfortable condition, such as small writing or tight shoes. 読みづらい字 is a hard-to-read character, and 話しづらい電話 is a phone that is awkward to talk on. It can also describe emotional hesitation: 言いづらい (hard to say).
Compared with にくい
～にくい is a more general “difficult to ～” and fits the nature of the thing. ～づらい leans toward the speaker's feeling of strain or discomfort. The two overlap a lot, and the opposite of both is ～やすい.
Examples
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この字（じ）は小（ちい）さくて読（よ）みづらいです。
Kono ji wa chiisakute yomizurai desu.
This writing is small and hard to read.
-
くつが小（ちい）さくて、歩（ある）きづらいです。
Kutsu ga chiisakute, arukizurai desu.
My shoes are small, so they're hard to walk in.
-
この電話（でんわ）は音（おと）が小（ちい）さくて、話（はな）しづらい。
Kono denwa wa oto ga chiisakute, hanashizurai.
This phone's sound is quiet, so it's hard to talk on.
Common mistakes
- Use the stem: 読みづらい, not 読むづらい.
- づらい is for difficulty that feels uncomfortable. Do not use it for skill-based difficulty like a hard test; use 難しい.
More grammar points
- 出（だ）す ～出す — “start ～ing suddenly”
- がり ～がり — a person who easily feels ～
- がる / がっている ～がる / ～がっている — showing signs of a feeling (third person)
- 始（はじ）める ～始める — begin to do ～
- にくい ～にくい — “hard to ～”
- 終（お）わる ～終わる — “finish ～ing”
- さ ～さ — turns an adjective into a noun (“-ness”)
- 続（つづ）ける ～続ける — keep on ～ing
- やすい ～やすい — easy to ～, tends to ～
- 間（あいだ） 間 — “during ～ / while ～ / between ～”
- 間（あいだ）に ～間に — “while ～ (something happens during that time)”
- あまり～ない あまり～ない — “not very ～ / not much”
- 後（あと）で ～あとで — “after ～ / later”
- ば ～ば — the conditional “if ～”
- 場合（ばあい）は ～場合は — “in the case of ～ / if ～”
- ばかり ばかり — “nothing but ～ / only ～”
- だけで ～だけで — “just by ～ / with only ～”
- でございます ～でございます — the very polite “to be”
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