"I have difficult" or I "have difficulty"

[Cisco795]

"I have difficult in understanding order of adjectives..."

I have a three questions on this sentence:

1.- "I have difficult" or "I have difficulty"?
2.- "in understanding" or "to understand"?
3.- Should one include the direct article "the" before the word "order given that a
reader knows what "adjectives"are?

Can one use "understand" in a progressive tense?

In my mind i would have written this sentence as follows:
"I have difficulty to understand the order of adjectives..."

Thanks in advance foryour kidness.

God Bless you.
Cisco.
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Please, always correct me if I have made any kind of mistakes in my posts.

[Giang]

I think "have difficulty in doing st"
So "I have difficulty in understanding order of adjectives"

[Yankee]

Hello Cisco

You should use the word "the" because you are referring to a specific concept ("the order of adjectives").

The word "difficulty" is a noun, not an adjective.
The word "difficult" is an adjective.

Here are two options for you:

- I have difficulty in understanding the order of adjectives.
(have difficulty in doing something)

- It is difficult to understand to understand the order of adjectives.
(be difficult to do something)
.
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Minh]

Hi Amy,

Cisco has asked whether the verb "to understand" could be used in a grogressive tense?

Minh

[Cisco795]

Thank you all, God Bless you.

Yup, "Understanding" was part of my questions, can "understand" be used in a progressive tense? Is it even a progressive tense? Now that I am reviewing this thread I am realizing it may not even be. I appreciate your inputs.

Have a nice day.
Cisco
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Please, always correct me if I have made any kind of mistakes in my posts.

[Yankee]

Hi Cisco

The word "understanding" is not part of a verb "tense" in your sentence.
It is similar to a noun in the sentence.

Generally speaking, only a noun, pronoun or the ing-form of a verb can be the object of a preposition. After the phrase "have difficulty in", you cannot use an infinitive, but you can use the ing-form of a verb.

The verb "understand" is not used too often in continuous tenses, however it is sometimes used that way -- particularly in spoken English, I'd say. It is usually used that way to indicate that someone is starting to understand or that someone is in the process of comprehending something:

- He was slowly understanding how difficult the road ahead was going to be.
.
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln