〜がじょうず / 〜がとくい
In this lesson, you will learn how to say someone is good at something and how to say that you are good at something, with the adjectives じょうず and とくい respectively. You will see when to use them both in sentences, and you will also learn their counterparts, へた and にがて.
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to express that someone is good at something and to express that you yourself are good at something.
じょうず and とくい both mean 'to be skillful at', and へた and にがて both means 'to be unskillful at'. In this lesson, we will learn the difference between the two, and we will also learn how to use them both with nouns and verbs.
〜がじょうず
じょうず is an adjective meaning 'skillful', as in 'he is skillful at (something)'. Since it is an adjective, it will go with the particle が. じょうず is only used when you are talking about somebody else; we cannot use it for ourselves.
With nouns, we will use this construction: (noun) がじょうず (です).
With verbs, we will add the particle の, which, like こと, will act as a verb nominalizer: (verb) のがじょうず (です).
ジェレミは日本ごがじょうずです。
Jeremi wa nihongo ga jouzu desu.
Jeremy is good at Japanese.
おとうさん、おりょうりがじょうず！
Otousan, oryouri ga jouzu!
You are good at cooking, dad!
もえみちゃんはえをかくのがじょうずです。
Moemi-chan wa e o kaku no ga jouzu desu.
Moemi-chan is skillful at drawing.
ともやはじてんしゃをなおすのがじょうず。
Tomoya wa jitensha o naosu no ga jouzu.
Tomoya is good at repairing bicycles.
In the case of nouns that can take the verb する, like りょうりする, we tend to only use the noun and not the verb, like in the example above.
じょうず can also take on the honorific お.
さくらはにほんごがおじょうずですね。
Sakura wa nihongo ga ojouzu desu ne.
Sakura is good at Japanese, isn't she?
〜がへた
The counterpart of じょうず is へた, which means 'unskilled' or 'not being skilled at'. It will work exactly like じょうず with nouns and verbs. へた can work with other people and with ourselves.
さゆみはうたうのがちょっとへたです。
Sayumi wa utau no ga chotto heta desu.
Sayumi is a bit bad at singing.
ヨルさんはおりょうりがへたです。
Yoru-san wa oryouri ga heta desu.
Yor-san is bad at cooking.
〜がとくい
As we use じょうず to talk about other people, we will use とくい to talk about ourselves. That is because じょうず is a little bit strong to be used in the first person. In Japan, people are taught humility and modesty at a very young age, and we don't want to be viewed as being bragging or being rude. That is why in a lot of circumstances, the language will be weakened.
とくい is also used with your family, and is used the same way as じょうず.
ゲームがとくいです。
Geemu ga tokui desu.
I am good at video games.
ものがたりをかくのがとくい。
Monogatari o kaku no ga tokui.
I am good at writing stories.
はははケーキをつくるのがとくいです。
Haha wa keeki o tsukuru no ga tokui desu.
My mother is good at baking (making cakes).
〜がにがて
It will be the same way for にがて, which means 'to be unskilled' or 'being bad at something'. It is the counterpart of とくい. However, にがて will bring the nuance of dislike, something unpleasant. Unlike へた which you can use to say that you are bad at something even if you like dong it, にがて will mean that you don't particularly like it.
わたしはうんてんがにがてです。
Watasi wa unten ga nigate desu.
I am bad at driving.
木にのぼるのがにがて。
Ki ni noboru no ga nigate.
I am bad at climbing trees.
All these adjectives are な adjectives.
ピアノがじょうずな人はすばらしいさいのうがあります。
Piano ga jouzuna hito wa subarashii sainou ga arimasu.
People who are good at piano have an incredible talent.