Hard to accept: 〜がたい
Verb (stem) + がたい（がたく／がたかった）
Stem + がたい: “hard, almost impossible” for moral or psychological reasons (信じがたい, 許しがたい). More written and stronger than にくい and づらい.
In short
〜がたい means something is very hard, almost impossible, for moral or psychological reasons: you can't bring yourself to believe it, forgive it, forget it. It's used with verbs of thought or feeling. Written, formal register; usually written in kana (難い exists).
- それは信じがたい話だ。それはしんじがたいはなしだ。That's a story that's hard to believe.
- 子どもを傷つけるのは、許しがたい行為だ。こどもをきずつけるのは、ゆるしがたいこういだ。Hurting a child is an unforgivable act.
- あの夏の旅は、忘れがたい思い出になった。あのなつのたびは、わすれがたいおもいでになった。That summer trip became an unforgettable memory.
The basics
がたい comes from 難い, “difficult”. Attached to a verb stem, it says an action is almost impossible, not for a technical reason, but because the mind or one's morals resist: you can't believe, can't accept, can't forgive, can't forget. English often uses -able words here: “unforgivable”, “unforgettable”, “unbelievable”.
The compatible verbs are few and always linked to thought or feelings: 信じる, 許す, 理解する, 想像する, 受け入れる, 忘れる, 言う, 動かす (動かしがたい事実, “an indisputable fact”).
That's a story that's hard to believe.
- noun
- verb
- grammatical form
- これは動かしがたい事実だ。これはうごかしがたいじじつだ。That's an indisputable fact.
How to form it
Verb stem + がたい. The whole conjugates like an い-adjective: がたく（て）, がたかった. It often comes before a noun.
| Verb | がたい form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 信じる | 信じがたい | hard to believe |
| 許す | 許しがたい | unforgivable |
| 忘れる | 忘れがたい | unforgettable |
| 理解する | 理解しがたい | hard to understand |
| 言う | 言いがたい | hard to claim |
- この計画が成功したとは言いがたい。このけいかくがせいこうしたとはいいがたい。You could hardly say this plan was a success.
- ふるさとの景色は、忘れがたく心に残っている。ふるさとのけしきは、わすれがたくこころにのこっている。The scenery of my home town has stayed etched in my heart.
がたい, にくい, づらい
にくい (N4): practical or objective difficulty, with any kind of verb (読みにくい字, 割れにくいコップ). づらい (N3): it's hard going for the person doing it, physically or emotionally (この靴は歩きづらい, 言いづらい). がたい: near-impossibility, moral or psychological, in writing.
| Form | Type of difficulty | Example |
|---|---|---|
| にくい | practical, objective | この字は読みにくい |
| づらい | hard going for me | この靴は歩きづらい |
| がたい | moral, psychological (written) | 信じがたい話 |
- このペンは書きにくい。このぺんはかきにくい。This pen is hard to write with.
- 先生に本当のことは言いづらい。せんせいにほんとうのことはいいづらい。It's awkward telling the teacher the truth.
Common mistakes
- Using it for a technical difficulty: “×この字は書きがたい”; you say 書きにくい.
- Confusing it with ありがたい (“grateful, thank you”), an adjective in its own right.
- Using it in light conversation: がたい is written; in speech, you say 信じられない.
7 exercises on this point
Particles to choose, sentences to put back in order, translations: marked straight away, then reviewed at the right time. This JLPT N2 point is on the Aonami Line (Science and technology) of the Nagoya lines.