É difícil lidar com isso.

Portuguese often does not use a dummy subject like English it in sentences such as It is difficult.

So:

• É difícil lidar com isso. = It is difficult to deal with that/this.

Literally, Portuguese is closer to Is difficult to deal with that, but that is completely normal in Portuguese. You will see this a lot with expressions like:

• É importante estudar. = It is important to study.
• É bom descansar. = It is good to rest.
• É impossível saber. = It is impossible to know.

The accent in é is important because it distinguishes the verb é (is) from e (and).

So:

• é = is
• e = and

The accent also shows the stressed vowel sound. In this sentence, É difícil... means It is difficult..., not and difficult...

É is the verb ser (to be). Here, ser presents something as a general fact or judgment: It is difficult.

So É difícil lidar com isso sounds like a general statement.

If you say Está difícil lidar com isso, using estar, it sounds more like:

• It’s hard to deal with this right now
• Things are difficult at the moment

So both can exist, but they feel slightly different:

• É difícil lidar com isso. = a general truth / overall judgment
• Está difícil lidar com isso. = a current situation

Because Portuguese often uses the infinitive after expressions like é difícil, é fácil, é importante, é bom, etc.

The infinitive names the action itself:

• É difícil entender. = It is difficult to understand.
• É fácil aprender. = It is easy to learn.
• É difícil lidar com isso. = It is difficult to deal with that/this.

So lidar stays in the basic dictionary form because the sentence is talking about the action of dealing with something.

In this sentence, É difícil lidar com isso is the most direct and natural structure.

Portuguese often says:

• É difícil entender isso.
• É fácil fazer isso.
• É difícil lidar com isso.

You will also see de + infinitive in other patterns, especially when a specific noun is described as hard or easy:

• Esse texto é difícil de entender. = This text is hard to understand.

So de is not required here. With this sentence, the version without de is very natural.

Lidar com is a very common expression meaning:

• to deal with
• to handle
• to cope with

It is often used for situations, problems, emotions, or people:

• Não sei lidar com pressão. = I don’t know how to deal with pressure.
• Ela sabe lidar com crianças. = She knows how to handle children.
• É difícil lidar com a perda. = It is hard to cope with the loss.

So in your sentence, lidar com isso means to deal with that/this.

Because lidar normally takes the preposition com.

So the full pattern is:

• lidar com algo
• lidar com alguém

Examples:

• lidar com problemas = to deal with problems
• lidar com pessoas difíceis = to deal with difficult people
• lidar com isso = to deal with that/this

This is something you usually just have to learn together with the verb: lidar com, not just lidar by itself in this meaning.

Isso usually means that or sometimes this, depending on the context in English.

In real Brazilian Portuguese, isso is very commonly used for something:

• already mentioned
• the other person said
• present in the situation, but not especially close to the speaker

So com isso means with that or with this, and in natural English it often becomes just with it.

Examples:

• Não concordo com isso. = I don’t agree with that.
• Não aguento mais isso. = I can’t take this/that anymore.

Traditionally:

• isto = this
• isso = that
• aquilo = that over there / that one over there

But in modern Brazilian Portuguese, isto is much less common in everyday speech. Very often, Brazilians use isso where English might say either this or that, depending on context.

So a learner should know:

• isso is extremely common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese
• isto is correct, but less frequent in everyday conversation

That is why É difícil lidar com isso sounds very natural.

Yes. Lidar com isso é difícil is grammatical and means the same thing.

The difference is mostly emphasis and style:

• É difícil lidar com isso. = the most neutral, common way
• Lidar com isso é difícil. = puts more focus on the action itself

Both are correct, but the version starting with É difícil is usually the more natural default.

A rough pronunciation is:

• É → eh
• difícil → roughly jee-FEE-seew
• lidar → lee-DAR
• com isso → roughly kohng EE-soo or kõ EE-soo, depending on the accent

So the whole sentence is approximately:

eh jee-FEE-seew lee-DAR kohng EE-soo

This is only an approximation for English speakers, but it can help you get started.