difficulty to assess

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "difficulty to assess" is not correct in standard written English.
A more appropriate expression would be "difficulty in assessing." Example: "There is a difficulty in assessing the effectiveness of the new policy."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

17 human-written examples

This method has several drawbacks, such as the difficulty to assess small failure probabilities and its inability to parallelize computations.

Structural Safety

Biological monitoring of human exposure to environmental pollutants is hampered by the difficulty to assess data reliability.

Microchemical Journal

The main reason for that is the lack of standardized tests and the difficulty to assess direct shear in fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) both for the design and for the quality control.

Construction and Building Materials

The entrepreneur's difficulty to assess the expected cash flow and the time of return on investment.

Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The difficulty to assess conscious perception in controlled experiments, in particular, gave rise to endless methodological discussions as to the best approach to consciousness, and what counts as index of conscious experience – e.g., direct vs. indirect, objective vs. subjective measures [18], [25], [36].

Plosone

"Roads were cut, bridges were broken, so we had difficulty to assess the situation and launch the response".

Unicef

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

43 human-written examples

There seems to be critically little correlation between the progression of years and the share of agricultural area, which creates difficulties to assess whether the agricultural area is actually improving over a longer time period.

Environmental Systems Research

In order to address these issues we conducted a post hoc analysis of a 6-month placebo-controlled trial in which there were no inclusion criteria that specified sleep maintenance difficulties to assess the variable effects of baseline wake time after sleep onset (WASO - the primary maintenance measure) on the efficacy of eszopiclone 3mg.

Duke University

However, we are aware of the difficulties to assess the function of the coagulation system "ex vivo".

Plosone

There are also difficulties to assess the mechanism of action.

Cell Death and Disease

Moreover, there are difficulties to assess the validity of several NSHMs.

Biodiversity and Conservation

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When describing challenges in evaluation, use the grammatically correct phrase "difficulty in assessing" or consider alternatives like "challenge to evaluate" for better clarity.

Common error

Avoid using "to" directly after "difficulty" when describing the act of assessing. The correct form is "difficulty in assessing". Using "difficulty to assess" is considered grammatically incorrect.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "difficulty to assess" functions as a noun phrase describing a problematic situation where evaluation or measurement is challenging. Ludwig AI points out that this is not standard written English.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

67%

Formal & Business

17%

News & Media

16%

Less common in

Academia

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Wiki

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while the phrase "difficulty to assess" appears in various sources, it is considered grammatically incorrect. Ludwig AI suggests opting for "difficulty in assessing" or alternative expressions like "challenge to evaluate" to ensure clarity and correctness. Its occurrence is infrequent and primarily concentrated in scientific and formal business contexts. When aiming for precision and formality, especially in professional writing, using grammatically sound alternatives is recommended. Remember that while imperfect grammar may be understood, adhering to correctness enhances credibility.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

difficulty in assessing

Replaces "to assess" with the grammatically correct "in assessing".

challenge to evaluate

Substitutes "difficulty" with "challenge" and "assess" with "evaluate", slightly altering the nuance.

trouble in evaluating

Uses "trouble" as a synonym for "difficulty" and maintains the evaluation aspect.

hardship in evaluating

Replaces "difficulty" with "hardship" while keeping the action of evaluating.

issue in evaluating

Substitutes "difficulty" with "issue", indicating a concern related to evaluation.

obstacle to measuring

Uses "obstacle" instead of "difficulty" and "measuring" in place of "assessing", shifting the focus to quantification.

problem in measuring

Replaces "difficulty" with "problem" and "assess" with "measuring", focusing on a specific type of evaluation.

complexity in determining

Highlights the complicated nature of "determining" something, instead of directly mentioning the difficulty.

complication in evaluating

Uses "complication" instead of "difficulty", indicating a complex element affecting the evaluation.

impediment to evaluating

Replaces "difficulty" with "impediment", suggesting a hindrance in the evaluation process.

FAQs

What is the correct way to phrase "difficulty to assess"?

The grammatically correct phrasing is "difficulty in assessing". Alternatively, you can use phrases like "challenge to evaluate" or "trouble in evaluating".

Are there synonyms for "difficulty to assess" that I can use?

Yes, you can use synonyms such as "challenge to evaluate", "hardship in evaluating", or "obstacle to measuring" to convey a similar meaning.

Is "difficulty to assess" considered formal or informal language?

Although examples can be found in different contexts, it's better to avoid the phrase "difficulty to assess" in formal writing and use the more correct and widely accepted "difficulty in assessing".

Why is "difficulty to assess" considered grammatically incorrect?

The phrase "difficulty to assess" uses an infinitive form incorrectly. The proper construction requires a gerund (assessing) after the preposition "in", hence "difficulty in assessing" is the correct form.