Meaning & use
carry with difficulty
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To hold and move something while struggling, because it is heavy, awkward, or hard to manage.
Grammar: Takes an object when you name the thing: carried the box with difficulty. Can stand alone when the object is already known: he was carrying with difficulty.
Patterns
- carry something with difficulty
- carry something with difficulty up/down something
- be carrying with difficulty
She carried the water bucket with difficulty, stopping every few steps to rest.
The porters carried the crates with difficulty along the muddy path.
He was still carrying with difficulty after the injury, so we took the bags from him.
verbtransitivefigurative
To manage to do a task or keep something going only by making a great effort.
Grammar: Used with abstract objects such as a responsibility, a cost, or a burden: carry the cost with difficulty. Not used for physical objects in this sense.
Patterns
- carry something with difficulty
- carry the cost/burden with difficulty
The small charity carried the extra costs with difficulty through the winter.
After the manager left, the team carried the workload with difficulty.
She carried the responsibility with difficulty but never asked for help.
Word forms
| third person singular | carries with difficulty |
|---|---|
| past tense | carried with difficulty |
| past participle | carried with difficulty |
| -ing form | carrying with difficulty |
Common combinations
- carry a heavy load with difficulty
- The donkey carried a heavy load with difficulty up the hill.
- carry something with great difficulty
- He carried the sofa with great difficulty through the narrow doorway.
- carry a burden with difficulty
- Since the accident she has carried that burden with difficulty.
- manage with difficulty
- We managed with difficulty until the new equipment arrived.
- walk with difficulty
- The old man walked with difficulty after his operation.
Synonyms and how they differ
- struggle to carry
- Use this when you want the effort to be the main verb; it sounds more active and personal than carry with difficulty.
- lug
- Informal and suggests pulling something heavy along; it fits casual speech better than the neutral carry with difficulty.
- haul
- Suggests pulling or dragging something heavy over a distance, so it is stronger and more physical than carry with difficulty.
- heave
- Used for one great lifting or pushing effort rather than a steady struggle, so it does not fit slow, continuous carrying.
Opposites
Word family
- carry verb
- To hold and move something from one place to another.
- carrier noun
- A person or thing that carries something.
- difficulty noun
- The state of being hard to do or deal with.
- difficult adjective
- Needing a lot of effort or skill.
Commonly confused: carry with difficulty or carry on? carry with difficulty or bear?
carry with difficulty vs carry on
A phrasal verb meaning to continue, not to hold something. 'Carry on with the work' means keep doing it, while 'carry the box with difficulty' is about lifting and moving.
carry with difficulty vs bear
Bear also means to hold something up or accept a burden, but it is more formal and often used with pain or responsibility: bear the pain, not carry the pain.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'carry with difficulty' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The adverb phrase 'with difficulty' normally comes after the object, so 'carried the heavy suitcase with difficulty' is the natural order. Option 0 splits the verb from its object awkwardly, option 2 puts 'with' in the wrong place, and option 3 is possible in very literary writing but is not the usual pattern in everyday English.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “carry with difficulty”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.