"Reading is difficult."

Translation: Το να διαβάζεις είναι δύσκολο.

[ibogi2]

Να διαβάζεις είναι δύσκολο <- is this correct as well?

And in the translation above, why is there το in το να διαβάζεις? And why are you using the second singular form?

[Yiannis49]

"Να διαβάζεις είναι δύσκολο" is wrong because the set construction for the Greek gerund is "το να + verb"; the "το" is necessary.

The verb form corresponds to the person that it is talking about (e.g. το να διαβάζουν δεν τους αρέσει = they don't like reading) but when making a general statement without a subject we tend to use the second person singular.

For a comprehensive and detailed explanation see the notes for this lesson: https://www.duolingo.com/skill/el/Verbs%3A-Gerund/tips-and-notes

[NancyWalke13]

So if you were expressing the feeling that you youself find reading difficult, you could say Το να διαβάζω?

[Yiannis49]

Yes. You could also say ‘Το να διαβάζω μου είναι δύσκολο’ or ‘Μου είναι δύσκολο το να διαβάζω’

[Walt1965]

As Ibogi asks - why second person singular? Why is ´διαβάζω' wrong?

[ManoliIoan]

And what about το διάβασμα είναι δύσκολο, would that be correct also?

[Yiannis49]

Yes, and it is said more often. However, this lesson focuses on gerunds so it wants you to use the construction "το να + verb" instead of the noun.