易い・やすい

Auxiliary Adjective (い) (Basic ㊦ 541)

Something or someone is easy to ~.

Equivalent: Easy to; ready to; be apt to; prone to; do something easily

この漢字は覚え易い・易いです。: This kanji is easy to memorise.
あの人のうちは見つけ易い。: His house is easy to find.
佐藤先生は話し易いです。: Professor Sato is easy to talk to.
このペンは書き易い。: This pen is easy to write with.
上野さんは一緒に仕事がし易かった。: Mr. Ueno was easy to work with.
豆腐は腐り易い。: Tofu rots easily.

Formation

Vます	易い
	話し易い	Easy to speak
	食べ易い	Easy to eat

Notes

1. Verbます易い is an い type compound adjective and conjugates as an Adjective い, as seen in the following：

		Informal	Formal
Affirmative	Nonpast	話しやすい	話しやすいです
	Past	話しやすかった	話しやすかったです
Negative	Nonpast	話しやすくない	話しやすくないです話しやすくありません
	Past	話しやすくなかった	話しやすくなかったです話しやすくありませんでした

2. The following sentences (1) - (4) are closely related to Examples (a) - (d).

あの人のうちを見つける。 [Example (a)]
One locates his house.

佐藤先生に話す。 [Example (b)]
One talks to Professor Sato.

このペンで書く。 [Example (c)]
One writes with this pen.

上野さんと一緒に仕事をした。 [Example (d)]
One worked together with Mr. Ueno.

The noun phrases in (1) through (4) above, such as the direct object を, the indirect object に, the instrumental phrase で, and the comitative phrase と are the sources for the topic (subject) of Examples (a), (b), (c) and (d), respectively. It is important to note that all these particles drop in the 易い construction, and that the topic is the new subject of the 易い construction.

3. If the subject of the 易い construction is under focus, it is marked by が, as in (5).

(⇨ が1)

A: どの先生が話しやすいですか。
Which professor is easy to talk to?

B: 佐藤先生が話しやすいです。
Professor Sato is easy to talk to.

The antonym of 易い is 難い 'hard to ~', and it is used in exactly the same way as 易い.

(⇨ 難い)