Questions & Answers about wǒ juéde jìzhù zhèxiē shēngcí bù róngyì.
What is the basic structure of this sentence?
The sentence 我觉得记住这些生词不容易。 follows a common Chinese pattern:
- 我 – subject: “I”
- 觉得 – verb: “(I) think / feel”
- 记住 – verb: “to memorize / remember (and have it stick)”
- 这些生词 – object of the verb: “these new vocabulary words”
- 不容易 – predicate adjective: “not easy”
So structurally it’s:
Subject + 觉得 + Verb (+ Object) + Adjective
我 + 觉得 + 记住 + 这些生词 + 不容易
“I think (that) memorizing these new words is not easy.”
There is no need for a word like “that” in Chinese; 觉得 directly connects to the whole following clause.
Why is there no 是 (“to be”) in the sentence, like in “是不容易的”?
Chinese often drops 是 when you have a verb phrase followed directly by an adjective phrase:
- 我觉得记住这些生词不容易。
“I think memorizing these new words is not easy.”
If you add 是, you get a slightly more formal or emphatic style:
- 我觉得记住这些生词是不容易的。
Both are grammatically correct.
The version without 是 is more neutral and conversational; with 是 … 的 sounds a bit more deliberate or emphatic.
Why is there no 很 before 容易? I learned that Chinese often uses 很 before adjectives.