Difficult to do with 〜がたい

Grammar: Difficulty » 〜がたい

Usage Notes

がたい marks an action as extremely hard to carry out. The obstacle is often the speaker’s judgment, feelings, or moral resistance.

It appears mainly in formal, written, or literary language and is stronger than にくい or づらい.

It favors mental and emotional verbs such as 言(い)う, 信(しん)じる, 忘(わす)れる, and 理解(りかい)する over routine physical actions. For example, 食(た)べがたい, “hard to eat”, is rare, while 理解(りかい)しがたい, “hard to understand”, is common.

Formation

1. Verb stem + がたい

   • 言(い)う (to say) to 言(い)いがたい (difficult to say)
   • 忘(わす)れる (to forget) to 忘れがたい (difficult to forget)

The kanji form 難い is commonly used, though it may also appear in hiragana as がたい.

Examples

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Difficult to discard a photo with 〜がたい

Inui’s class is gathering photos of couples for a school festival contest. Another couple comes to join in.

乾(いぬい):

「どっちの画像(がぞう)プリントします？」

“Which image should I print?”

彼女(かのじょ):

「えーーー　どうするー？」

“Oh my gosh... What should we do?”

彼氏(かれし):

「どっちも捨(す)てがたいねーーー」

“Both are hard to abandon.”

Difficult to pass on with 〜がたい

Visiting her new friend’s family’s café, Cocoa ponders over which menu item to order.

ココア:

「わー抹茶(まっちゃ)パフェもいいし　クリームあんみつ白玉(しらたま)ぜんざいも　捨(す)てがたいなあ」

“Wow, the green tea parfait is good, but the cream anmitsu and dumpling red bean soup are difficult to pass on.”

Hard to believe with 〜がたい

A student from a lower grade enters the classroom. She stops and stares at Asuka Jr., one of the boys in the class.

涼子(りょうこ):

「ある特定(とくてい)のところに集中(しゅうちゅう)してない？　しかも」

“Isn't she focused on one particular area? And on top of that...”

恭子(きょうこ):

「ものすごく信(しん)じがたいところに……」

“It's in a frightfully hard to believe area...”