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Questions & Answers about Изучать грамматику трудно.
What part of speech is Изучать, and what is its role in the sentence?
Изучать is the imperfective infinitive form of the verb “изучать/изучить” (to study, to learn thoroughly). In this sentence, the infinitive phrase Изучать грамматику acts as the logical subject of an impersonal construction. In English you’d render it as “To study grammar is hard,” but Russian drops the dummy “it is” and simply uses the infinitive as the subject.
Why is грамматику in the accusative case rather than nominative?
Because грамматику is the direct object of the transitive verb изучать. The infinitive изучать requires an object in the accusative, so “grammar” becomes грамматику.
Why do we use трудно here instead of the full adjective трудный?
Трудно is the short-form neuter of трудный, functioning as a predicative (or predicative adverb) in an impersonal sentence. Full adjectives like трудный need a noun to modify (“трудная тема,” “трудное задание”), whereas short-form adjectives (or predicative adverbs) stand alone as “is hard.”
Is трудно an adverb or an adjective?
Grammatically it’s often called a predicative adverb, but historically it comes from the short-form adjective трудный. In modern Russian it behaves as a special predicative: it does not modify a verb (so not a regular adverb), but serves as the sentence’s predicate (“is hard”).
Why isn’t there an explicit “it” (as in “It is hard”)? How do we express “it is” in Russian?
Russian allows impersonal sentences without a subject or dummy pronoun. The short-form predicate (трудно) inherently carries the meaning of “it is.” You simply state the predicate; no separate “оно” or “это” is needed in the present tense.
Can I change the word order to Трудно изучать грамматику? Does it change the meaning?
Yes, you can say Трудно изучать грамматику. The meaning stays the same (“It’s hard to study grammar”), but fronting трудно slightly emphasizes the difficulty. Both orders are equally correct and common.
What’s the difference between изучать (imperfective) and изучить (perfective)? Why choose the imperfective here?
Изучать (imperfective) focuses on the ongoing process or general habit of studying grammar. Изучить (perfective) would imply completing the study of grammar once. Since the sentence expresses a general truth about the difficulty of the ongoing activity, the imperfective изучать is appropriate.
Could I use учить instead of изучать, as in Учить грамматику трудно?
Yes, you could say Учить грамматику трудно, especially in colloquial speech. Учить often means “to learn” or “to memorize,” while изучать implies a more systematic, in-depth study. The nuance is subtle, but both verbs work here.
Can трудно be replaced with сложно? If so, is there any nuance?
Absolutely: Изучать грамматику сложно is equally correct. Сложно highlights complexity or difficulty, while трудно emphasizes effort. In everyday usage they’re interchangeable in this context.