JLPT N3 · Compound verbs & suffixes
がたい (gatai)
～がたい — hard to ～
In short · A somewhat formal suffix meaning it is hard to do something, because of feelings or circumstances. It attaches to the stem of certain verbs such as believe, imagine, and understand.
Pattern
-
Vます形（ます抜き）＋がたいVerb stem + がたい
Connection and verbs
Drop ます and add がたい. Only a limited set of verbs work, mostly about thinking or feeling: 信じがたい, 想像しがたい, 理解しがたい, 許しがたい, 忘れがたい.
Difference from ～にくい
～にくい is for practical difficulty (a pen that is hard to write with). ～がたい means it is hard to do because of feelings or common sense, and is more formal.
Examples
-
それは信（しん）じがたい話（はなし）です。
Sore wa shinjigatai hanashi desu.
That's a hard-to-believe story.
-
彼（かれ）がうそをつくなんて想像（そうぞう）しがたい。
Kare ga uso o tsuku nante sōzō shigatai.
It's hard to imagine that he would tell a lie.
-
あの人（ひと）の気持（きも）ちは理解（りかい）しがたい。
Ano hito no kimochi wa rikai shigatai.
That person's feelings are hard to understand.
Common mistakes
- It does not attach to every verb. 食べがたい and 書きがたい sound unnatural.
- For physical difficulty use ～にくい (書きにくい).
More grammar points
- 上（あ）げる ～上げる — to finish ～ completely
- 合（あ）う ～合う — do ～ to each other; to fit, to suit
- だらけ ～だらけ — covered in ～, full of ～ (something bad)
- がち ～がち — tends to ～ (usually undesirable)
- 気味（ぎみ） ～気味 — a touch of ～
- かける ～かける — half-done, in the middle of ～
- 切（き）れない ～切れない — cannot finish, cannot fully ～
- 切（き）る ～切る — do ～ completely, to the end
- 込（こ）む ～込む — into, crowded, deeply ～
- 向（む）け ～向け — intended for ～, aimed at ～
- 向（む）き ～向き — suited to ～, facing ～
- 直（なお）す ～直す — do ～ over again
- っぱなし ～っぱなし — leaving ～ as it is
- っぽい ～っぽい — ～-ish / tends to be ～
- たて ～たて — “freshly ～ed / just done”
- 的（てき） ～的 — “-like / -al” (makes an adjective)
- 通（とお）す ～通す — “do ～ all the way through”
- あまり あまりの～に — so ～ that ～
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