"less hard" or "less difficult"

Question

The word "hard" means something is difficult. But can I say "English is less hard than Chinese?" instead of "less difficult?"

Danyoo · Accepted Answer

In your sentence, the correct words you should use is 'not as hard' or 'not as difficult.' You are comparing two things.
-English is not as hard as Chinese.
-English is not as difficult as Chinese.

'Less hard' or 'less difficult' has a slightly different meaning. It means a little less hard/difficult than current state.
-You can make the ice cream less hard by letting it sit at room temperature for a while.
-You can make the math test less difficult by doing all your homework.

It would be correct to say:
-You can make learning Chinese less hard/difficult by having a private tutor.

Hly2004 · Answer

Thanks Danyoo,

"Chinese is more difficult than english."

Is that correct?

Pieanne · Answer

It sounds good if you capitalize English

Danyoo · Answer

You're welcome Hly.

Yes, that is correct. Because you can't say "Chinese is difficulter than English."

Just remember, any word with 3 or more syllables requires you to use 'more' or 'most' instead of 'er' or 'est' to turn it into comparative or superlative form. This is a simple rule, but one that's easy to forget.

"less hard" or "less difficult"

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