“To be good/bad at…” in Korean

Korean

[n.]을/를 잘하다

to be good at [n.]

[n.]을/를 못하다

to be bad at [n.]

Silly things:

[n.]을/를 잘 못하다

to be unable to do [n.] well (more gentle)

[n.]을/를 잘못 하다

to do [n.] wrong

[n.]을/를 잘못하다

to make a mistake

Since the described patten requires a noun, it's easiest to use with -하다 verbs. Non-하다 verbs can be used with the words 잘, 못, 잘 못 preceding the verb.

못 쓰다

to be bad at writing

잘 달리다

to be good at running

잘 자

goodnight (lit. "sleep well")

However, this is often unclear. For example, 쓰다 could also mean "to use." Using an additional noun clarifies the intention.

글을 못 쓰다

to be good at writing (lit. "to write well")

글

(n.) writing

저는 노래를 잘 못해요.

I cannot sing well.

저는 글씨를 잘 못 써요.

My handwriting is not good.

• 써요 is the present tense of 쓰다.

References

• [cite:@talktomeinkoreanTalkMeKorean2015]