GRAMMAR DETAIL

に難くない

not difficult to imagine

Formally states that another person's feelings or circumstances can readily be imagined.

Examples

突然家を失った家族の心痛は察するに難くない。

It is not difficult to imagine the anguish of a family that suddenly lost its home.

初めて舞台に立つ彼の緊張は想像に難くない。

It is not difficult to imagine how nervous he is about taking the stage for the first time.

長年の友を失った彼の悲しみは想像に難くない。

It is not difficult to imagine his sorrow at losing a longtime friend.

Structure: Attach に難くない to an expression of imagining or understanding to formally say that another person's circumstances or feelings are readily imaginable.
Basic usage: 初めて舞台に立つ彼の緊張は想像に難くない。 means that his nervousness about taking the stage for the first time is easy to imagine.

Nouns, verbs, and reading
- 想像に難くない follows a noun, while 察するに難くない follows a dictionary-form verb. Here 難くない is read かたくない.
Connection compared with しがたい
- 想像しがたい means hard to imagine and attaches がたい to a verb stem. 想像に難くない means not difficult to imagine and uses the particle に followed by a negative form.