Grammar › No Choice & Difficulty
がたい — “hard to, difficult to (emotionally/psychologically)”
Says something is hard to do not due to skill, but because it goes against reason or feeling
Verb ます-stem + がたい says an action is difficult in a deeper, more abstract sense — hard to accept, believe, or forgive — rather than a simple skill-based difficulty (which is what にくい covers). 信じがたい (hard to believe) and 忘れがたい (unforgettable) are its most common set phrases.
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| Stem + がたい | 信じがたい話 — a hard-to-believe story |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| その話は信じがたいです。 | そのはなしはしんじがたいです。 sonohanashihashinjigataidesu。 | That story is hard to believe. |
| 彼の行動は許しがたい。 | かれのこうどうはゆるしがたい。 karenokoudouhayurushigatai。 | His behavior is unforgivable. |
| あの旅行は忘れがたい思い出です。 | あのりょこうはわすれがたいおもいでです。 anoryokouhawasuregataiomoidedesu。 | That trip is an unforgettable memory. |
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Watch out
がたい only pairs naturally with a small set of verbs about belief, forgiveness, and memory (信じる, 許す, 忘れる, 得る) — for ordinary physical or skill-based difficulty (“hard to open,” “hard to read”), にくい is the correct choice instead.