Hard to / enough to (难以/足以)

Structure 难以 / 足以 + disyllabic verb

难以 (nányǐ) and 足以 (zúyǐ) are formal modals built from 以 + a (usually disyllabic) verb. 难以 = "hard to, all but impossible to": 其影响难以估量 = "its impact is hard to gauge". 足以 = "enough to, sufficient to": 这些证据足以定罪 = "this evidence is enough to convict". Against colloquial 很难 + verb, 难以 reads like journalism and essays; and 足以 packs into two syllables what 足够…来… would say with a detour. The cousin 得以 ("to finally manage to") is filed under verbs.

Examples

这zhè场chǎng灾zāi难nàn造zào成chéng的de损sǔn失shī难nán以yǐ估gū量liáng。
The losses caused by this disaster are hard to gauge.
现xiàn有yǒu的de证zhèng据jù足zú以yǐ证zhèng明míng他tā的de清qīng白bái。
The existing evidence is enough to prove his innocence.
他tā内nèi心xīn的de痛tòng苦kǔ难nán以yǐ用yòng语yǔ言yán形xíng容róng。
The pain he carries inside is hard to put into words.
这zhè点diǎn收shōu入rù不bù足zú以yǐ维wéi持chí一yī家jiā人rén的de生shēng活huó。
This bit of income is not enough to support the whole family.

Levels are indicative: they follow the standard Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning) progression, not an official HSK 3.0 mapping. We never assign levels by eye.

This point and the other 370, with audio on every example, inside Wanyu.