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Hard / difficult

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Latest post Wed, May 28 2008 2:59 AM by Anonymous. 3 replies.
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Anonymous  +  519799 Tue, 27 May 08 11:14 PM

1.When do we use "hard" and when "difficult" ?

2.Can we say the test was hard ? or the test was difficult?
Anonymous
Avangi  +  519834 Wed, 28 May 08 02:37 AM

As a replacement for "difficult," "hard" is casual.  (1. & 2.  -  the meaning would be the same.)
Avangi
Joined on Mon, Nov 19 2007
Veteran Member 8,171
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Anonymous, 1 yr 177 days ago
When the meaning is "not easy", the words "hard" and "difficult" are often interchangeable, the only difference being that "hard" is slightly more informal. So, "the test was hard" and "the test was difficult" are both fine, and they mean exactly the same thing.

Offhand I can't think of any situation where "hard" means "not easy" but can't be replaced by "difficult" with no change in meaning.

However, the converse is not always true. There are some cases where replacing "difficult" by "hard" might change the meaning or sound unnatural. An example that comes to mind is "a difficult man" (= "a man who is not easy to deal with"); "a hard man" means something rather different.

Philip  +  519838 Wed, 28 May 08 03:00 AM
I use the two interchangeably, but I agree that 'hard' is more casual. 
Philip
Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005
Veteran Member 8,733
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