News from online media is easy to be found.
With easy and difficult you need active verbs:
..and with a different verb:
So, that was easy to fix! (NOT ‘to be fixed’!)
Animals that are used to perform are easy to get tired.
If we reduce this to its most basic grammar, we get:
Obviously that’s not what the writer intended. Maybe we should look at some examples!
Now contrast the previous examples with the following.
It is easy for us to correct our opening example if we begin “It is easy for.!”
This structure is shown in several previous posts – here, and in the song Lemon Squeezy. Check them out!
An alternative improvement would be to use an adverb:
..and for a higher IELTS score, avoid ‘get’ by using the verb form of ‘tired’:
If you’re studying in Australia you should make an effort to see the amazing Circus OZ – an animal-free circus!
Another song from @GuruEAP – this time to practice the words ‘easy‘ and ‘difficult‘. See also this earlier post for further practice of these not-so-easy items!
A free handout with lyrics and tasks for students accompanies the song. The video features Indonesian EAP students preparing to study abroad. Enjoy!
Easy and difficult are sometimes difficult to use for Indonesian native speakers.
I am difficult to understand grammar.
Using a dictionary makes me easy to understand English.
If you say these in an IELTS interview, the examiner will understand you but you will get a low score for grammar. For a higher score, use the following:
These last two examples will increase your IELTS scores for vocabulary as well as grammar. They include strong collocation as well as structural sophistication. At the same time, if you speak and write like this then the examiner will find it easier to understand you.
You need to be very careful with the following:
I am difficult to understand.
This means that other people find it difficult to understand you, perhaps because you are talking and at the same time eating rendang yang kurang empuk (under-cooked beef), or because your neighbour is playing loud dangdut music and nobody can hear you.
I am difficult.
This means that you are an ‘orang susah’.
I’m easy.
This can mean that you are kind of ‘polos’, for example if you are in a restaurant, and perhaps in a hurry, and your friend asks you what you want to eat, you might say “I’m easy,” meaning “Apa saja!” (“Whatever..”)