nominalizer N5 common casualpolitewritten
〜のが下手 — to be bad at ~ing
〜のが下手 ・ のがへた
Meaning
- to be bad at ~ing / poor at ~ing — unskilled at an activity
Key sentence
私は歌を歌うのが下手だ。
I'm bad at singing.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (dictionary form) + のが下手 | Vる + のが下手だ | 料理を作るのが下手 (bad at cooking) |
Examples
弟は絵を描くのが下手だ。
My little brother is bad at drawing.
人前で話すのが下手で、いつも緊張する。
I'm bad at speaking in front of people, so I always get nervous.
When you can't use it
- The activity is nominalized with の and the whole clause is marked が, not を: 字を書くのが下手だ, never 〜のを下手だ. 下手 is an adjective, so its subject takes が.
Easily confused with
Notes
- 下手 also works as a plain な-adjective on a noun: 字が下手だ ('has bad handwriting'). Compare 苦手: 下手 means objectively unskilled, while 苦手 means bad at something AND disliking or dreading it.
See 〜のが下手 in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜のが下手 the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.