Learn English – What’s the difference between “The process is no easy task” and “The process is not an easy task”

meaningsentence-structure

When reading a passage in VOA English, I found a sentence:

The process is no easy task.

It comes to me another sentence:

The process is not an easy task.

What's the difference between them?

Best Answer

No easy thing and no easy matter as Merriam-Webster states mean: something that is not easy to do or bear.

Dictionary.Com explains this definition as not a (used before an adjective to convey the opposite of the adjective's meaning)

  • His recovery was no small miracle.

No can also be followed by comparative adjectives and adverbs:

  • No fewer than forty men.
  • No more quickly than before.

According to this knowledge we can assume that "no easy task" equals "not an easy task".

Related Topic