づらい

The suffix づらい attaches to the verb stem (masu-stem) to express that an action is difficult, hard, or painful to do. It carries a nuance of personal difficulty – often implying physical discomfort, psychological burden, or emotional pain associated with performing the action.

Structure

V[stem] + づらい

• たべる食べる → 食べ → 食べづらい (hard to eat)
• はなす話す → 話し → 話しづらい (hard to talk about)
• あるく歩く → 歩き → 歩きづらい (hard to walk)

Since づらい is an い-adjective ending, it conjugates like any い-adjective:

• Negative: づらくない
• Past: づらかった
• Adverbial: づらくて

Usage and nuance

づらい emphasizes that the person doing the action feels difficulty or discomfort. It is most naturally used when the subject is a person (or living thing) who experiences the hardship.

づらい vs. にくい

Both づらい and にくい can mean "hard to do," but they differ in nuance:

• づらい focuses on subjective difficulty – the speaker finds it physically or emotionally hard. It is used with intentional actions (things people consciously do).
• にくい focuses on objective difficulty – something is inherently hard to do due to its nature or structure. It can be used with both intentional and unintentional actions.

For example, わかりにくい分かりにくい (hard to understand) is natural, but 分かりづらい sounds less natural because わかる分かる is not a volitional action.

Compare: このじ字はよみにくい読みにくい。 – This handwriting is hard to read (objectively unclear).