Difference between やすい and にくい in terms of what they attach to

Question

I know 食べやすい = 'easy to eat' and 読みにくい = 'hard to read', but can these ever describe the person's skill rather than the object's inherent property? Like can I say 'I find it hard to read' vs 'this book is hard to read'?

Accepted Answer

やすい/にくい attach to the verb stem and describe a property of the OBJECT/ACTIVITY itself, not the speaker's personal skill level. So この本は読みにくい means 'this book is hard to read' (as an inherent quality — small font, difficult vocabulary, etc.), not 'I personally struggle to read it'. To express your own difficulty, you'd usually reach for something like 私にはこの本を読むのが難しい or ～のが苦手 instead. So no, やすい/にくい stay tied to the object's characteristics, not a specific person's ability.