Questions & Answers about קשה לי להבחין בין שתי המילים האלה כשאני קורא מהר.
What does קשה לי literally mean, and why doesn’t Hebrew say something closer to I have difficulty?
Literally, קשה לי means hard/difficult to me.
This is a very common Hebrew pattern:
- קשה לי = it is difficult for me
- קל לי = it is easy for me
- נעים לי = it is pleasant for me
So instead of building the idea around I, Hebrew often builds it around the situation:
- קשה לי להבחין... = It’s difficult for me to distinguish...
That is why לי (to me / for me) appears instead of a subject like אני.
Why is להבחין in the infinitive form?
After expressions like קשה לי or קל לי, Hebrew usually uses an infinitive to say what is difficult or easy.
So:
- קשה לי להבחין = It’s hard for me to distinguish
- קל לי להבין = It’s easy for me to understand
- קשה לי לזכור = It’s hard for me to remember
Here, להבחין means to distinguish / to tell apart / to notice the difference.
What exactly does להבחין mean here?