ENGLISH
REFERENCE

find it difficult to do sth

fixed phr..
A2 Elementary Oxford

fixed phr.. You use this phrase to say that something is hard for you to do. It expresses that you have a personal challenge with an action.

fixed phr.. A common construction used to express that the subject experiences a particular action (the infinitive clause) as challenging. The pronoun 'it' functions as a dummy object anticipating the clause.


SIMPLE

He finds it difficult to speak in public.

CONTEXTUAL

Many older people find it difficult to use new technology like smartphones.

COMPLEX

The commission found it difficult to reconcile the conflicting testimonies from the various witnesses.

Usage

The adjective 'difficult' can be replaced with others like 'hard', 'easy', or 'impossible'.

Teaching tip

Teach this as a chunk, 'find it + adjective + to + verb', and contrast it with the simpler form 'verb-ing + is + adjective' (e.g., 'Speaking in public is difficult').

Pitfall

I find difficult to understand this.I find it difficult to understand this.The dummy object 'it' is required between the verb 'find' and the adjective 'difficult'.

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