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やすい (yasui) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Easy To

Author Anna Baffa Volpe for article 'やすい (yasui) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Easy To'

Anna Baffa Volpe

The adjective やすい (yasui) means easy.

It is an い Adjective and preceded by the Verb Base takes on the meaning of easy to and likely to, have a tendency to.

In this post we learn more about the meaning of やすい, how it is formed and when やすい is used through real example sentences.


How and when to use やすい

The structure we will study together in this post is charachterized by:

the Verb Base + the Adjective やすい

The Ichidan Verbs have only one base / conjugation while the Godan Verbs have 5 bases and use in this case the B2 or Base ending in い.

It expresses something that is easy to do, simple to do.

The antonym of this form is represented by the same structure with the adjective にくい which translates something difficult to do, hard to do.

この()(かい)使(つか)いやすい。

This machine is easy to use.

スペイン()(べん)(きょう)しやすい。

Spanish is easy to learn.

How to form やすい

やすい in its kanji transcription becomes (やす)い.

It is joined to the Verb Base used in the polite form ます.

B2 or Base in い+やすい

Ichidan verb: (こた)える answer

(こた)える
(こた)
(こた)
(こた)やすい

(こた)えやすい(しつ)(もん)

Questions that are easy to answer

In the case of the Godan verbs we use the base ending in い: ()read

()
()
()やすい

()みやすい(しょう)(せつ)

An easy to read novel

In the 2 previous examples やすい has attributive function and precedes the noun it modifies.

In the predicative function the adjective やすい follows the noun and is put at the end of the sentence.

この(しつ)(もん)(こた)えやすい。

This question is easy to answer.

この(しょう)(せつ)()みやすい。

This novel is easy to read.

Polite form やすいです

The polite form is obtained by adding the copula です to the adjective やすい.

(せん)(せい)(せつ)(めい)()かりやすいです。

The teacher’s explanations are easy to understand.

この(もん)(だい)()(ちが)えやすいです。

This question is easy to get wrong.

やすかった: past form

The past form of the adjective やすい is やすかった and in the polite form we add the copula: やすかったです.

Example from a comment on a video tutorial of a recipe:

Thank you. It was very easy to understand, because you spoke slowly.
()かりやすかった: it was easy to understand

ありがとうございます。ゆっくりでとても()かりやすかったです。

Thank you. It was very easy to understand, because you spoke slowly.

Examples of やすい

日本(にほん)()(おく)(もく)(ぞう)で、()がつきやすい。

Japanese houses are made of wood and easily set on fire.

(わたし)(ひと)(えい)(きょう)されやすいタイプなんです

I am the type of person who is easily influenced by others.

In the example above, we find the verb in the passive form:

(えい)(きょう)する influence(えい)(きょう)される be influenced ⇨(えい)(きょう)されやすい easily influenced

今日(きょう)はとても()ごしやすい(よう)()です。

Today is a very pleasant beautiful day.

People whose stories are easy to understand. People whose stories are hard to understand. Which one are you?
あなたはどっち? Which one are you?

(はなし)()かりやすい(ひと)(はな)()かりにくい(ひと)。あなたはどっち?

People whose stories are easy to understand. People whose stories are hard to understand. Which one are you?