difficulty to follow

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "difficulty to follow" is not correct in standard written English.
The correct expression would be "difficult to follow." Example: "The instructions were so complicated that they were difficult to follow."

⚠ May contain grammatical issues

Science

News & Media

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

1 human-written examples

Nevertheless, in vivo 13C NMR studies of the mouse brain are only recently appearing in the field due to the numerous challenges linked to the small mouse brain volume and the difficulty to follow the mouse physiological parameters within the NMR system during the infusion experiment.

Analytical Biochemistry

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

59 human-written examples

Six of the health care workers interacted well with clients but three had difficulties to follow counseling guidelines.

Global Health Action

In contrast, dogs experienced major difficulties to follow an object's invisible trajectory in these transposition tasks.

Animal Cognition

Yet another limitation was the difficulty to follow-up all physician encounters with colleagues, since these encounters occurred by chance, without a previous schedule and although the researcher attempted to attend all meetings there were occasions when this was not possible.

Plosone

Difficulties connected to follow up was given as reason in 29 cases (10%), and disagreement with the patient on the need for antibiotics in 12 cases (4%).

BMC Family Practice

One disadvantage of these papers is lack of presenting simulation procedure so it causes difficulties for readers to follow and simulate by themselves later.

Environmental Systems Research

Three parent studies [III, IV, XI] described the difficulties with trying to follow the programme.

European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

From a patient perspective, most were poor farmers who lived in rural areas of Bhutan and transport related expenditure for follow-up visits may have posed difficulties in adhering to follow up schedules.

BMC Health Services Research

Difficulties at work may include getting fired from a job because of your lack of attention to detail, or missing deadlines because you have difficulty focusing long enough to follow a project through to completion.

Huffington Post

They advanced with difficulty over pitted terrain to follow the infantry, and when they were west of Cheppy they set up an observation post.

Wikipedia

These difficulties led some researchers to follow the Bristol group's lead and impute information about vitamin K prophylaxis from knowledge of hospital policy.

British Journal of Cancer

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When referring to something that presents comprehension challenges, use "difficult to follow" rather than "difficulty to follow". It aligns with standard English grammar and improves clarity.

Common error

Avoid using "difficulty" directly before "to follow". Instead, use the adjective "difficult" to correctly describe something challenging to understand or adhere to.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "difficulty to follow" functions as a noun phrase that incorrectly attempts to describe something challenging to understand or adhere to. Although grammatically incorrect, its intent is clear, similar to using a noun where an adjective is required. As Ludwig AI reports, the wording is non-standard.

Expression frequency: Rare

Frequent in

Science

30%

News & Media

30%

Formal & Business

10%

Less common in

Wiki

10%

Encyclopedias

10%

Reference

10%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, while the phrase "difficulty to follow" may seem intuitive, it's considered grammatically incorrect in standard English. According to Ludwig AI, the correct form is "difficult to follow". While it appears in a variety of sources, its use is infrequent and not recommended for formal writing. Using "difficult to follow" or alternatives like "hard to understand" ensures clarity and grammatical correctness. When you need to express that something is challenging to understand or keep up with, remember to use the adjective "difficult" rather than the noun "difficulty" for better communication.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

hard to understand

Emphasizes the challenge in comprehending something.

difficult to comprehend

Highlights the complexity that hinders understanding.

challenging to grasp

Focuses on the effort required to fully understand something.

complicated to adhere to

Highlights the difficulty in sticking to rules or guidelines.

tough to keep up with

Emphasizes the struggle to maintain pace with something.

problematic to track

Indicates difficulties in monitoring or tracing something.

onerous to maintain

Emphasizes the burdensome nature of keeping something going.

cumbersome to manage

Highlights the awkwardness and difficulty in handling something.

unwieldy to control

Indicates a lack of ease in governing or directing something.

complex to navigate

Emphasizes the intricacy of finding one's way through something.

FAQs

How can I correctly use the phrase "difficulty to follow" in a sentence?

While the phrase "difficulty to follow" is grammatically incorrect, you can use the corrected form "difficult to follow" in a sentence. For example: "The instructions were too "difficult to follow"".

What's a grammatically correct alternative to "difficulty to follow"?

Instead of "difficulty to follow", use "difficult to understand" or "hard to follow". These phrases are more grammatically sound and widely accepted.

Is there a difference in meaning between "difficulty to follow" and "difficult to follow"?

While "difficulty to follow" is not considered grammatically correct, ""difficult to follow"" is the standard and accepted way to express that something is challenging to understand or adhere to. Ludwig AI identifies the first as non-standard English.

In what contexts is "difficult to follow" most appropriately used?

The phrase ""difficult to follow"" is suitable in a range of contexts, including academic, professional, and casual settings, to describe anything from instructions to arguments that are hard to understand. It is generally more appropriate than the ungrammatical "difficulty to follow".