がたい details
say + hard to bring yourself to
ii gatai
hard to bring yourself to; next to impossible to
meaning: be hard to bring yourself to say
彼の話はあまりにも突飛で、正直信じがたい。
kare no hanashi wa amari ni mo toppi de, shoujiki shinji gatai.
His story is so outlandish that, honestly, it is hard to bring yourself to believe. neutral
え、あの人がそんなことするなんて、ちょっと想像しがたいんだけど。
e, ano hito ga sonna koto suru nante, chotto souzoushi gatai n da kedo.
Wait, that person doing something like that — honestly, it is hard to bring yourself to imagine, you know. casual
- past
- polite
Examples
hard to bring yourself to; next to impossible to — a narrow set of cognitive or emotional verbs describing a reluctance grounded in reason or feeling, not mere practical difficulty
彼の話はあまりにも突飛で、正直信じがたい。
kare no hanashi wa amari ni mo toppi de, shoujiki shinjigatai.
His story is so outlandish that, honestly, it is hard to bring yourself to believe. neutral
え、あの人がそんなことするなんて、ちょっと想像しがたいんだけど。
e, ano hito ga sonna koto suru nante, chotto souzoushigatai n da kedo.
Wait, that person doing something like that — honestly, it is hard to bring yourself to imagine, you know. casual
このような不正行為は、断じて許しがたい。
kono you na fusei koui wa, danjite yurushigatai.
Conduct like this fraud is utterly unforgivable. formal
Formation
{V-masu-stem}がたいattaches to ます-stem
Notes
Related patterns
Similar
にくい names ordinary practical difficulty across almost any verb (書きにくい、読みにくい); がたい is narrower, reserved for a small set of cognitive or emotional verbs (信じる、許す、忘れる) and reads stronger, closer to "next to impossible" than "a bit of a hassle."
Both build "cannot bring myself to" on a masu-stem, but がたい is an ADJECTIVE stating a general, often written judgment about anyone's reaction (許しがたい行為), while かねる is a VERB used almost exclusively in first-person, formal service refusals (お引き受けしかねます).