hardness
Translation
firmness, difficulty
Examples
The hardness of the rock made it difficult to drill.
The firmness of the rock made it difficult to drill.
He was surprised by the hardness of the task.
He was surprised by the difficulty of the task.
Grammar Patterns
the hardness of ((sth.)) the quality of being hard of ((sth.)) The hardness of the water is a problem.
Similar Words
Synonyms: firmness, difficulty; Antonyms: softness, ease
Etymology
From the adjective 'hard' plus the suffix '-ness', which forms nouns indicating a state or quality.
Memory Tips
The '-ness' suffix turns an adjective (hard) into a noun describing the quality of being that adjective.