era difícil

was difficult

→ ser
phrase Uncommon #14,067
was difficult Use for describing something that was hard to do, understand, or deal with.
SP: Era difícil encontrar un taxi en la lluvia.
EN: It was difficult to find a taxi in the rain.

No era difícil.

It wasn't difficult.

La mancha de café era difícil de quitar.

The coffee stain was difficult to remove.

A la madre le era difícil hablar sobre su hijo.

The mother found it difficult to talk about her son.

Sé que era difícil.

I know it was difficult.

Era muy distante era difícil establecer vínculos.

He was very distant, so it was difficult to form connections.

— Caché (Escondido) (2005)

Era difícil entender qué era lo que Tom intentaba decir.

It was difficult to understand what Tom was trying to say.

La felicidad que me deseaban era difícil de soportar.

The happiness they wished for me was hard to bear.

— El cuento de la princesa Kaguya (2013)

Era difícil al principio.

It was difficult at first.

Era difícil separar las cosas.

It was difficult to separate things.

— Tropa de élite 2 (2010)

La vida era difícil, pero tú la hiciste mejor.

Life was hard, but you made it better.

Me era difícil llevarme bien con mi vecino.

I found it difficult to get along with my neighbor.

El examen en sí no era difícil, pero el tiempo era poco.

The exam itself wasn't difficult, but time was short.

Escrita en un apuro, su carta era difícil de leer.

Written in haste, her letter was difficult to read.

Pensaba que ese libro era difícil de leer.

I thought that book was difficult to read.

Era difícil decir por qué le había causado una impresión tan fuerte.

It was difficult to say why it had made such a strong impression on him.

— Valor sentimental (2025)

Encontrar cuál era mi religión era difícil.

Finding out what my religion was was difficult.

— P.K. (Peekay) (2014)

Era difícil para mí decidir.

It was difficult for me to decide.

Tom pensaba que era difícil.

Tom thought it was difficult.

A ellos les era difícil llegar a la isla.

It was difficult for them to reach the island.

El libro que estaba leyendo era difícil de dejar.

The book I was reading was hard to put down.

Era difícil.

It was difficult.

Pero para mí era difícil hasta aprender la tabla del cuatro.

But for me, even learning the four times table was difficult.

— Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015)

Tom encontró que era difícil responder la pregunta.

Tom found it difficult to answer the question.

La navegación era difícil porque había minas.

Navigation was difficult because there were mines.