Adjective complement with noun phrase

• make: All of these extraordinary elements of design can make flow patterns difficult to manage.

• find: Trees are somewhat sparse, but visitors will find the small greens difficult to reach in par figures.

• render: These elements render steel very difficult to process due to hot shortness during hot rolling.

Infinitive complement

• imagine: It is difficult to imagine that such a diverse range of chemical types would all act in the same way.

• understand: The third reason is a little more difficult to understand.

• predict: The problem is that it is very difficult to predict the extent of the damage.

• distinguish: Where object classes contain only small numbers, it becomes very difficult to distinguish typical properties from the peculiar.

• obtain: Equally, legal advice can be difficult to obtain for asylum-seekers who have been dispersed outside London.

• quantify: Drug misuse is an illicit activity and therefore difficult to quantify.

Modifies a noun

• task: The 33 judges will have a very difficult task to select the winners.

• situation: What has been the most difficult situation you have faced?

• circumstance: And above all, so do all those who spend their lives working in the Service, often in difficult circumstances.

• decision: Secondly, the City Council is having to take difficult decisions about its council housing stock.

• terrain: A. ATV's and Quads are off-road vehicles, designed to be used on the most difficult terrain and on steepest slopes.

• question: I wouldn't trust them with a difficult question!

Used with adjective complement

• prove: Measuring the actual numbers who attended the Mela as a result of Mela on the Mile proved difficult.

• become: Search engine optimization has become much more difficult in recent years.

• seem: Tamir's choice of the former ideal, rather than the latter, seems difficult to motivate.

• find: Extra assistance will be given in areas which you may find difficult.