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Difficulty [gradable]
An Experiencer has an easy or difficult time carrying out an Activity. The ease or difficulty associated with the Activity seems to often be associated with a prominent participant. However, we consider this impression to be due to the syntax and pragmatics of the relevant sentence constructions and employ no special FE for such participants. The Degree of ease or difficulty is often specified as well as a set of Circumstances. A Parameter may be mentioned that indicates in which respect the Activity is judged to be easy or difficult.
Unmarked LUs of this frame indicate that something is easy, while LUs of this frame that mean the opposite of easy are marked with the semantic type "Negative", as in difficult.a, arduous.a, and a bitch.n.
(1) John is easy to please.
(2) It is easy to get Alex annoyed.
(3) Smithers is very tough for me to please.
(4) VWs are easy to repair.
(5) The dating of western sculpture is difficult.
(6) In that kind of wind the course is physically very tricky.
(7) The last question on the exam was hard.
(8) The last one was a hard question to answer.
Unmarked LUs of this frame indicate that something is easy, while LUs of this frame that mean the opposite of easy are marked with the semantic type "Negative", as in difficult.a, arduous.a, and a bitch.n.
(1) John is easy to please.
(2) It is easy to get Alex annoyed.
(3) Smithers is very tough for me to please.
(4) VWs are easy to repair.
(5) The dating of western sculpture is difficult.
(6) In that kind of wind the course is physically very tricky.
(7) The last question on the exam was hard.
(8) The last one was a hard question to answer.
Properties
- ID
- #375
- Entry
- frm_difficulty
- Namespace
- Attribute.Gradable
- FrameNet version
- Difficulty (fn_1.7_2023)
- Domains
- —
- Types
- —
- Ontological type
- —
- English name
- Difficulty
Core Frame Elements (2)
| Frame element | Definition | Semantic type | Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activity |
This Frame Element marks expressions indicating the Activity that the Experiencer finds difficult or easy. In many cases, the relevant Activity has to be inferred from the context.
The climb was difficult. That question was difficult. That question was difficult to answer. |
— | — |
| Experiencer |
This Frame Element marks expressions that indicate which person judges carrying out the Activity to be easy or difficult.
The geology question on the exam was hard for me. |
category
sentient
|
— |
Peripheral Frame Elements (4)
| Frame element | Definition | Semantic type | Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree |
This Frame Element marks expressions that indicate the Degree of difficulty that the Experiencer has in carrying out the Activity.
Charlie is very tough for Lulu to please. |
category
degree
|
— |
| Parameter |
This FE marks expressions that indicate a respect in which the Activity is judged easy or difficult to carry out by the Experiencer.
The problem involves a mathematically difficult Fourier transformation. |
— | — |
| Standard |
The experience of the Activity by the Experiencer may be compared to a Standard situation, which may be evoked either as an event or state, or by reference to a salient participant.
Man, running on hilly bike paths of Calgary was tough compared to my routes in flat southwestern Ontario|sta. Elsewhere, expert rider Kris Leeson was finding the going tough compared to the previous rounds|sta. |
— | — |
| Time |
The time at which the Activity takes place.
|
— | — |
Extra-thematic Frame Elements (1)
| Frame element | Definition | Semantic type | Constraint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circumstances |
This Frame Element marks expressions that indicate a set of conditions in which the Activity is being experienced and which influence the Experiencer's perception of how easy or difficult the Activity is.
In this weather the climb turned out to be very difficult. |
— | — |
Frame-Frame Relations (2)
Inheritance
Using
Lexical Units (26)
| LU | Type | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| a bastard.n | — | FN: a very difficult task |
| a bitch.n | — | FN: a very difficult task |
| a breeze.n | — | FN: a very easy task |
| a cinch.n | — | FN: a very easy task |
| a doddle.n | — | COD: a very easy task. |
| a pain in the neck.n | — | FN: difficult and unpleasant |
| a pain.n | — | FN: a very difficult task |
| a piece of cake.n | — | FN: something easily achieved |
| a snap.n | — | FN: a very easy task |
| a walk in the park.n | — | FN: a seemingly simple task |
| arduous.a | — | COD: difficult and tiring |
| challenge.n | — | COD: a demanding task or situation. |
| challenging.a | — | FN: requiring a person's full abilities and effort |
| child 's play.n | — | FN: very easy, trivial |
| difficult.a | — | COD: needing much effort or skill to accomplish, deal with, or understand |
| difficulty.n | — | FN: to state of being hard to deal with |
| ease.n | — | FN: freedom from difficulty or great effort |
| easy.a | — | COD: achieved without great effort; presenting few difficulties. Note: Nouns modified by easy.a are usually part of a constructions that evoke a protoypical verb. Ex. |
| hard.a | — | COD: requiring or demonstrating a great deal of endurance or effort; difficult. |
| impossible.a | — | FN: not able to be accomplished |
| like taking candy from a baby.adv | — | FN: easily done |
| near thing.a | — | FN: an event which occurs despite fears that it might not occur |
| no picnic.n | — | FN difficult |
| tough.a | — | COD: nvolving considerable difficulty or hardship |
| tricky.a | — | COD: requiring care and skill because difficult or awkward |
| trivial.a | — | FN: very easy |
None.
None.
No visual units
This frame has no visual-unit images.