难以 (nán yǐ) — hard to (do something); difficult to

Definition

难以 (nán yǐ) is a more formal, written way to say 'hard to' or 'difficult to' before a verb. It differs from 难 (nán), which is more colloquial and can also mean 'bad'; and from 无法 (wú fǎ), which means 'unable to' (impossible), whereas 难以 implies difficulty but not impossibility.

verb

hard to (do something)difficult to

Examples

难以。
Zhège wèntí nán yǐ huídá.
This question is hard to answer.
难以。
Tā de xiǎngfǎ nán yǐ lǐjiě.
His ideas are hard to understand.
难以。
Zhè zhǒng qíngkuàng nán yǐ bìmiǎn.
This kind of situation is hard to avoid.

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