hard to tell

This page is about the collocation hard to tell

collocation pattern: adjective + verb

Meaning

difficult to know or deduce something

For example

  • It was dark, so it was hard to tell what colour the car was.

  • Dave's expression's always the same, so it's hard to tell what he's thinking.

Note:
Similar collocations include "hard to work out" and "hard to figure out". Related collocations with contrasting meanings include "easy to tell" and "impossible to tell".

Quick Quiz

It's hard to tell how old she is because

a. she wears a lot of make-up

b. she gets angry if you tell anyone

c. she doesn't know when she was born
a) she wears a lot of make-up b) she gets angry if you tell anyone c) she doesn't know when she was born

Contributor: Matt Errey