Good At & Bad At
This lesson will focus on common expressions used to indicate the proficiency or lack thereof of oneself and/or others.
Good At
The expression “good at” is typically expressed by one of three phrases.
| Word | Meaning | Nuance |
| うまい | Good at | Indicates that someone is proficient in a casual setting. This phrase is very subjective, and it is used with a very positive outlook. |
| 得意（な） | Good at | Indicates that either oneself or someone else has a strong suit with said action. |
| 上手（な） | Good at | Indicates that the speaker is speaking very highly of another person’s proficiency – not to be direct at oneself lest one wishes to sound pretentious. |
1. 彼は母に甘えるのが上手だね
He’s good at sucking up to his mother, isn’t he?
2. 私は水泳が得意だ。
I am good at swimming.
3. うちの息子はビデオゲームが得意です。
My son is good at video games.
4. 「日本語の先生は日本料理が上手ですか」「先生は料理が上手かどうか分かりません」
“Is your Japanese teacher good at (making) Japanese food?” “I don’t know whether my teacher is good at cooking or not.”
5. 「ジェニファーさん、英語がお1上手ですね。」「いえ、まだまだです。」
“You really are good at speaking English, aren’t you Jennifer!” “No, no, I’m still working on it.”
6. 真紀さんは特に水泳が得意です。
Maki-san is particularly strong at swimming.
7. 彼女は水泳が上手です。
She is good at swimming.
8. 私は上手だと思います。（△）
I think that I’m good at it.
Nuance Note: In situations in which the speaker is encouraged to uplift themselves, Ex. 8 is still viable without necessarily sounding overly pretentious. Under normal circumstances, however, 上手（な） is not used in reference to oneself.
It is worth noting that うまい, when written as 美味い, may also be used to mean “delicious” in male speech. When it means “good at,” it may alternatively be spelled in Kanji as 上手い・巧い. In a similar vein, when written as 旨い, it may also indicate a promising circumstance.
9. 加藤さんが作ったカレーはうまいよ。
The curry that Kato-san made is delicious.
10. うまい話だ。
What a sweet deal!
In the set phrase お上手を言う, 上手 as a noun may also mean “flattery.”
11. お上手を言ってはだめですよ。
You mustn’t curry favor.
Bad At
The following five phrases are used to indicate “bad at” as in someone’s abilities.
| Word | Translation | Nuance |
| 下手（な） | Bad at | Speaks badly of one’s or someone’s abilities. |
| 苦手（な） | Not very good at | Shows one’s or someone’s bad abilities. |
| 不得意（な） | Not one’s forte | Refers politely about other people’s bad abilities. |
| まずい | Unskilled | Speaks harshly of skill and not a nice word. |
| 拙い | Poor at | Unskillful and awkward and not a nice word. |
It is worth nothing that 苦手 more so implies that attempting to do the thing that one is bad out will result in a bitter experience.
Aside from indicating that someone is unskilled, まずい is most often used in reference to poor flavor, which ultimately reflects on the cooker’s ability to cook.
12.は運転が苦手ですよ。
Kate-san is bad at driving.
13. 彼の奥さんはやりくりがちょっと苦手ですね。
His wife is a little bad at getting by, isn’t she?
14. 彼女は物理が不得意なようです。
She doesn’t seem to be good at physics.
15. 僕は水泳が下手だ。
I am awful at swimming.
16. 彼は数学が苦手だ。
He is bad at math.
17. 字が拙いね。
Your handwriting is shoddy.
18. うわ、すんごくまずかったよ。
Oh, that was just awful.
19. メールの返事を韓国語で書くのは苦手です。
I am bad at writing a reply in e-mail replies in Korean.
- The use of the honorific marker お～ makes the adjectival noun 上手（な） more polite. ↩︎