the use of ¨fácil¨

Question

fácil de hacer -- easy to do;

fácil de usar (gen) easy to use; (Informática) user-friendly

no es fácil admitir que se está equivocado it isn't easy to admit that you're wrong;

Could anyone tell me the difference above?

Please capitalise at all times .We have members learning Spanish and English so it is not optional. - ray76, Sep 8, 2017

Welcome to SpanishDict, Abingor. - rac1, Sep 8, 2017

Interesting question - polenta1, Sep 8, 2017

Answer 1

ok, found something:

facil de + infinitivo es correcto en español cuando de+infinitivo no actúa como sujeto.

Esto es fácil de hacer. Esto: subject.

Ella es difícil de entender. Ella = subject

On the other hand, if it is the subject of the sentence, you do not use "de".

Es fácil escribir una carta. Subject : Escribir una carta

Turn the sentence round: Escribir una carta es fácil.

Es difícil aprender los verbos en español. Subject: Aprender los verbos en español.

I hope this makes things clearer.

Bingo for Heidita2! - DonBigoteDeLaLancha, Sep 8, 2017

Pensar que una lo usa y no sabe las reglas. - polenta1, Sep 8, 2017

Answer 2

Hi abingor, welcome to the forum

Very good question, abingor, I can think of a lot of examples, but not the exact rule.

Wait for some answers from other native speakers

Answer 3

Heidi's answer is perfect. I just want to show you that we do the same thing in English. Let's use your examples:

fácil de hacer -- easy to do; fácil de usar (gen) easy to use; (Informática) user-friendly no es fácil admitir que se está equivocado it isn't easy to admit that you're wrong;

The first two examples are often hyphenated (easy-to-do and easy-to-use or user-friendly) as they are describing nouns...as in an easy-to-do task or an easy-to-use bottle.

But easy to admit would never be hyphenated because it is talking about a verb. So the easy way to remember it is if you can hyphenate it you would use "de", and if not, you wouldn't.

very nice , echo :) - 006595c6, Sep 8, 2017

Answer 4

Are you asking why it is "fácil de" in some cases and "fácil + infinitive" in others?

sí, esa es la pregunta, - 006595c6, Sep 8, 2017