Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten.

This question can be answered easily.

Breakdown of Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten.

• diese: this
• die Frage: the question
• leicht: easily
• sich beantworten lassen: can be answered

Questions & Answers about Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten.

What exactly does „lässt sich“ mean here, and why isn’t it just a normal passive like „wird beantwortet“?

In „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten“, the phrase „lässt sich + Infinitiv“ is a common German structure that roughly means:

• „can be (easily) answered“
• „is easy to answer“

Grammatically, this is often called a “Reflexivpassiv” or “Mittelkonstruktion” (middle voice). Instead of using the werden-passive:

• Passive: Diese Frage *kann leicht beantwortet werden.*
• Reflexive construction: Diese Frage *lässt sich leicht beantworten.*

Both mean almost the same: “This question can be answered easily.” or “This question is easy to answer.”

Why use „lässt sich“?

• It sounds a bit more natural and idiomatic in many contexts.
• It often emphasizes how possible / easy something is.
• It avoids the slightly heavier-sounding „werden“-passive.

So „lässt sich beantworten“ is not “lets itself answer” literally; instead, you should learn it as an idiomatic way to say “can be answered” / “is answerable.”

What is the role of „sich“ here? Is it really reflexive?

Formally, „sich“ looks like a reflexive pronoun, but here it’s not reflexive in the sense of “doing something to oneself”.

In „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten“:

• Subject: Diese Frage (this question)
• Verb: lässt (from lassen)
• “Reflexive” pronoun: sich (accusative)
• Infinitive: beantworten

Literally: “This question lets itself be answered easily.”

But no one thinks the question is actually doing anything. The reflexive sich is part of a fixed middle-voice pattern:

lassen + sich + Infinitiv ≈ can be + past participle / is easy to + infinitive

So „sich“ here is more of a grammar tool than a true reflexive pronoun with real semantic content. It’s just required by this construction.

Who or what is the grammatical subject in this sentence?

The subject is „Diese Frage“.

You can see that because:

• The verb form is 3rd person singular: „lässt“ (not lassen).
• The subject is in nominative case: diese Frage (not diese Frage in any other case form here).

So the structure is:

• Subject (Nom.): Diese Frage
• Predicate: lässt sich leicht beantworten.

Even though the English translation feels more passive (“can be answered”), in German the sentence is formally active with Diese Frage as the subject.

Why is „beantworten“ at the end, and why is it in the infinitive form?

German main clauses follow a basic verb-second (V2) rule:

1. The finite (conjugated) verb goes in second position.
2. All other verbs (infinitives, participles) go to the end of the clause.

In the sentence:

• Finite verb in 2nd position: lässt
• Infinitive at the end: beantworten

Full structure:

• [1st idea slot]: Diese Frage
• [2nd position / finite verb]: lässt
• [rest of clause]: sich leicht beantworten

Because „beantworten“ is the infinitive used with lassen, it must go to the end of the clause:

• Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten.

This is completely regular German word order for modal-like or causative structures: lassen + sich + Infinitiv → infinitive at the end.

What is the difference between „beantworten“ and „antworten“? Could I say „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht antworten“?

You cannot say „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht antworten“. That’s incorrect.

The difference:

• antworten = to answer, intransitive, usually used with „auf“ + Accusative
  
  • Er antwortet auf die Frage. – He answers the question.
• beantworten = to answer, transitive, takes a direct object
  
  • Er beantwortet die Frage. – He answers the question.

In your sentence, the verb must match the direct object die Frage:

• Diese Frage *wird beantwortet.* ✅
• Diese Frage *lässt sich beantworten.* ✅

But „antworten“ does not take Frage as a direct accusative object, so:

• Diese Frage lässt sich leicht antworten. ❌ (ungrammatical)

Correct alternatives:

• Diese Frage *lässt sich leicht beantworten.* ✅
• Er antwortet leicht auf diese Frage. ✅ (different structure)
• Er beantwortet diese Frage leicht. ✅

What is the nuance difference between „leicht“ and „einfach“ here?

Both „leicht“ and „einfach“ can express the idea of “easy”, but there are subtle differences:

• leicht

  • Literally: light (not heavy)
  • Figuratively: easy, not difficult
  • A bit more neutral, often used with verbs:
    
    • Das lässt sich leicht erklären. – That can easily be explained.

• einfach

  • Literally: simple
  • Can mean easy, but also not complicated, plain
  • Can carry a nuance of simplicity, not complex:
    • Das ist eine *einfache Frage.* – That is a simple (straightforward) question.

In „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten“, „leicht“ focuses on the effort: it doesn’t require much effort to answer.

You could say:

• Diese Frage lässt sich *einfach beantworten.*

That’s also correct and common. Depending on context, einfach might sound a little more colloquial or might carry some nuance of “not complicated”, but in many cases they are nearly interchangeable.

Is there a more directly comparable English-like version using „können“ or „man“?

Yes. Two very common alternatives are:

1. Using „können“ and the passive:

   • Diese Frage kann leicht beantwortet werden.
   • “This question can easily be answered.”

2. Using „man“ (impersonal subject):

   • Man *kann diese Frage leicht beantworten*.
   • “One/You can easily answer this question.”

Compared:

• „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten“
  • Feels quite idiomatic and smooth
  • Slightly more compact than the werden-passive
• „Diese Frage kann leicht beantwortet werden“
  • More explicitly passive
  • Stylistically a bit more formal or bookish
• „Man kann diese Frage leicht beantworten“
  • Very direct, clear, and common in everyday language
  • Uses „man“ as a generic subject (“one” / “people” / “you”)

All three sentences are correct and mean almost the same thing.

How does this compare to „Diese Frage ist leicht zu beantworten“?

„Diese Frage ist leicht zu beantworten“ is another very natural alternative, and the meaning is essentially the same:

• Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten.
• Diese Frage ist leicht zu beantworten.

Both can be translated as:

• “This question is easy to answer.”

Nuance:

• „ist leicht zu beantworten“

  • Literally: “is easy to answer”
  • Adjective „leicht“ with „zu + Infinitiv“
  • Very close to the English structure and quite straightforward.

• „lässt sich leicht beantworten“

  • Uses the lassen + sich + Infinitiv construction
  • Slightly more idiomatic/typical-German; often sounds a bit more fluid in spoken language.

In everyday use, you can treat them as equivalent, and both are good to learn and use.

What exactly does „lassen“ mean in this construction, and is it related to other uses like „Ich lasse mein Auto reparieren“?

Yes, it’s related. „lassen“ is a very flexible verb. Core idea: to let / to allow / to have something done.

1. Causative use: to have something done

   • Ich *lasse mein Auto reparieren*.
     → “I have my car repaired.” / “I’m getting my car repaired.”

2. Permissive use: to let / to allow

   • Ich *lasse ihn gehen.*
     → “I let him go.”

3. Middle / passive-like use with „sich“:

   • Diese Frage *lässt sich leicht beantworten*.
     → “This question can be easily answered / is easy to answer.”

In the „lässt sich + Infinitiv“ pattern:

• The idea is that something allows itself to be done, i.e., it can be done.
• Over time, this has become an idiomatic “can be done / is doable” structure rather than a literal “lets itself be …”.

So yes, it is conceptually tied to the core meaning of „lassen“ (allow / cause), just used in a more abstract way.

Why is „leicht“ in the middle of the sentence and not at the very end?

German adverbs like „leicht“, „schnell“, „gern“ usually appear in the “Mittelfeld” (middle field) — between the finite verb (2nd position) and the infinitive at the end.

In „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten“:

• Vor­feld (before the finite verb): Diese Frage
• Linke Satzklammer (finite verb): lässt
• Mittelfeld: sich leicht
• Rechte Satzklammer (end verb): beantworten

So „leicht“ naturally sits in the Mittelfeld. Possible variations:

• Diese Frage lässt sich *leicht beantworten.* ✅ (very natural)
• Diese Frage lässt sich beantworten, und zwar leicht. ✅ (but different emphasis, more like “and indeed, easily.”)

But putting „leicht“ after the infinitive in a simple sentence would be wrong:

• Diese Frage lässt sich beantworten leicht. ❌

So: in normal sentences, adverbs like „leicht“ go before the final infinitive, in the middle of the sentence, not after it.

Why is the article „diese“ and not „dieser“ or „dieses“?

„Frage“ is a feminine noun:

• die Frage – the question

In the nominative singular, the demonstrative „dies-“ declines like the article:

• masculine: dieser Mann
• feminine: diese Frau, diese Frage
• neuter: dieses Kind
• plural (all genders): diese Leute

Since „Frage“ is:

• feminine
• in nominative case (subject)

we must use „diese“:

• Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten. ✅
• Dieser Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten. ❌ (wrong case)
• Dieses Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten. ❌ (wrong gender)

What tense is „lässt“ and what time reference does the sentence have?

„lässt“ is:

• 3rd person singular
• present tense
• of the verb „lassen“

So „Diese Frage lässt sich leicht beantworten“ is in the present tense, describing a general, current truth or property of the question:

• “This question is (in general) easy to answer.”
• “This question can (now/always) easily be answered.”

In context, present tense in German is also often used for general statements that are valid not just at one moment, but habitually or by nature – exactly like in this sentence.