suggest difficulty

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "suggest difficulty" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when indicating that something may be challenging or hard to accomplish. Example: "The instructions provided may suggest difficulty in understanding the process for new users."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Wiki

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

5 human-written examples

Fails to treat all pupils equally; his numerous heated interactions with a student named Harry Potter suggest difficulty in separating personal issues from school life.

The Guardian

A conservative estimate is that scales that score greater than 15% of the sample at the floor and ceiling may suggest difficulty discriminating between subjects [ 26].

Disability and Rehabilitation

However, some variation in the domain of impulsivity may suggest difficulty in understanding the place for cognitive deficits in the clinical diagnosis of ADHD/HKD.

European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Airway management should be undertaken by an experienced operator and should begin with a detailed assessment looking for features that may suggest difficulty in either intubation, ventilation or tracheostomy.

Critical Care

Underdevelopment in a low-cost area may merely suggest difficulty in achieving success but not a fatally "stacked deck".

WikiHow

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

54 human-written examples

Dementia is a set of behaviours or "symptoms" which suggest difficulties with cognitive function.

The Guardian

Monitoring the quality standards provides opportunities to improve practice through a feedback mechanism that allows the identification of sub-optimal practice, and can suggest difficulties, training needs, and challenges [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10].

Insights into Imaging

These findings suggest difficulties with single-word processing in patients with both left and right TLE, which are more prominent for verbs than for nouns in patients with left TLE.

Epilepsy & Behavior

These results suggest difficulties to maintain long-term colonisation with administered lactobacilli.

BMC Infectious Diseases

Taken together, studies strongly suggest difficulties in response inhibition paralleled by neurophysiological deviances for children with AD/HD compared to normal controls, but to our knowledge there is no such evidence for OD D/CDand comorbid AD/HD+ODD/CD.

Behavioral and Brain Functions

Newer studies also suggest difficulties in the accurate determination of KPS scores for patients with reduced "performance statuses" [ 8, 9] because KPS values between 40%and10%0% indicate the need for hospitalization as a criteria (Table  1).

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "suggest difficulty", ensure that the context clearly indicates what the difficulty pertains to. Be specific to avoid ambiguity.

Common error

Avoid using "suggest difficulty" when the situation clearly presents an insurmountable obstacle. Choose wording that more accurately reflects the magnitude of the problem.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "suggest difficulty" functions primarily as a verb phrase, where "suggest" acts as the verb and "difficulty" serves as the noun object. It indicates a potential or implied challenge. Ludwig examples show its usage in various contexts.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

Science

60%

News & Media

20%

Formal & Business

10%

Less common in

Encyclopedias

5%

Wiki

5%

Social Media

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "suggest difficulty" is a grammatically correct phrase used to imply potential challenges or problems. As Ludwig AI states, the phrase is correct and usable in written English. While not exceedingly common, it appears in various reputable sources like scientific articles, news reports and business documents, with its strongest presence in scientific publications. Alternatives such as "imply a challenge" or "indicate a problem" offer similar meanings, allowing for flexibility in writing. When employing this phrase, ensure clarity in the context to avoid ambiguity regarding the nature of the difficulty being suggested.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

imply a challenge

Focuses on the implication of a challenge rather than explicitly stating a difficulty.

indicate a problem

Replaces "difficulty" with the more general term "problem", broadening the scope slightly.

hint at complications

Uses "complications" to suggest potential difficulties, adding a layer of subtlety.

pose a challenge

Shifts the focus to the act of presenting a challenge rather than suggesting its existence.

present an obstacle

Highlights the obstructive nature of the difficulty.

raise concerns about

Indicates potential problems or difficulties, but from a perspective of worry.

signify a struggle

Emphasizes the effort required to overcome the difficulty.

denote an impediment

Uses a more formal term, "impediment", to refer to the difficulty.

reflect a disadvantage

Focuses on the negative impact or disadvantage caused by the difficulty.

entail hardship

Highlights the potential for suffering or hardship resulting from the difficulty.

FAQs

How can I use "suggest difficulty" in a sentence?

You can use "suggest difficulty" to imply that something might be challenging or hard to accomplish. For example: "The initial results "suggest difficulty" in replicating the experiment under different conditions."

What are some alternatives to saying "suggest difficulty"?

Depending on the context, you could use phrases like "imply a challenge", "indicate a problem", or "hint at complications".

Is it better to say "suggests difficulty" or "suggest difficulty"?

The correct form depends on the subject. Use "suggests difficulty" for singular subjects (e.g., "The analysis suggests difficulty"), and "suggest difficulty" for plural subjects (e.g., "These factors suggest difficulty").

What does it mean when something "suggests difficulty"?

It means that there are indications or signs that something might be challenging, problematic, or hard to achieve. It's a way of implying potential obstacles without stating them directly.