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難しい vs. 大変な

りすの肉

後輩
5 Jul 2004
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I'm trying to fill my brain with 日本語. I'm still a beginner, but coming along. So I'm curious about a nuance. Both 難しい and 大変な mean "difficult" or "hard" according to what I've read. Apart from the fact that one is an "i" adjective and the other is a "na" adjective, do they have different usages or connotations?

For example, are the following two sentences interchangable or do they suggest different things?

この大きい本は難しいです。
この大きい本は大変です。

どもありんがとお!:)
 
難しい I think is more for physical actions
where 大変 is more for circumstances or events.

このゲームは難しいです This game is difficult.
彼女(かのじょ)のお父さんが死んだ(しんだ)から、こんな時間(じかん)は大変と思います(おもいます)。Because her father died, these times are difficult for her.

Something like that. I am sure a more knowledgable person will give better explainations.

So your first sentence would be more taken as The book is difficult to read. Where the second sentence may seem like the book is serious or the concept is difficult to deal with. (You understand it but it so disturbing you dont want to continue reading it)
 
So your first sentence would be more taken as The book is difficult to read. Where the second sentence may seem like the book is serious or the concept is difficult to deal with. (You understand it but it so disturbing you dont want to continue reading it)
I could also take the second as the book is boring, time consuming, fatiguing, required reading, or in short, a real pain in the *** (面倒くさい) to plow through.

It's less vague and more natural to me than 難しい in the context of experiences that are obviously all of these and more....such as learning a language.
日本語は大変だね!:)
 
どもありんがとうございます!

Your answers all make sense, thank you for your help!

Your answers all make sense, thank you for your help!
 
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