difficile de choisir

StewartC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

difficile de choisir

The Collins dictionary provides the expression 'difficile à fair' and in the randomly generated examples of 'difficile' gives difficile d'atteindre; difficile à réaliser. difficile à modéliser. Is there a rule as to when 'difficile' is followed by 'de' OR 'à' and does this apply to other adjectives such as in the expression 'dur de choisir' which is given as an alternative answer in the exercise. 

I'm sure there is a lesson on this but my mind seems to have gone blank regarding it. Thanks in advance.

Asked 2 years ago
CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour Stewart,

To express 'it is hard/easy to [verb]', here is the pattern to follow:

Il est / c'est difficile / facile à + [infinitive verb] -> no object following the infinitive verb

Il est / c'est difficile / facile de + [infinitive verb] + [sth/sb] -> object following the infinitive verb

C'est facile à comprendre It is easy to understand

Marc est difficle à comprendre = Marc is difficult to understand

C'est difficile de faire la différence = It is difficult to tell the difference

Il est facile de lire ce livre = it is easy to read this book

Lire un livre dans le noir est difficile à faire Reading a book in the dark is hard to do

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

StewartC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Brilliant, thank you Céline for this straightforward reply.

difficile de choisir

The Collins dictionary provides the expression 'difficile à fair' and in the randomly generated examples of 'difficile' gives difficile d'atteindre; difficile à réaliser. difficile à modéliser. Is there a rule as to when 'difficile' is followed by 'de' OR 'à' and does this apply to other adjectives such as in the expression 'dur de choisir' which is given as an alternative answer in the exercise. 

I'm sure there is a lesson on this but my mind seems to have gone blank regarding it. Thanks in advance.

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