The difference between 得意 and 上手 (I'm good at) and 苦手 ...

I will then explain the difference between 下手/へた/Heta and 苦手/にがて/Nigate which means “I'm poor at”. In English, there is no difference ... GetunlimitedaccessOpeninappHomeNotificationsListsStoriesWriteThedifferencebetween得意and上手(I’mgoodat)and苦手and下手(I’mpoorat)Doyouhaveanythingyouaregoodat?orsomethingyouarenotgoodat?InJapanese,therearetwowordsthatcanexplainyouaregoodatsomethingandtwowordsthatexplainyouarenotgoodorpoorat.Inthisarticle,Iwillexplainthedifferencebetween得意/とくい/Tokuiand上手/じょうず/Jouzuwhichmeans“I’mgoodat”.Iwillthenexplainthedifferencebetween下手/へた/Hetaand苦手/にがて/Nigatewhichmeans“I’mpoorat”.InEnglish,thereisnodifferencebetween得意and上手aswellas下手and苦手,andeachoftwowordsaretranslatedintosameEnglishphrasesoit’sdifficulttounderstandtheproperuseofeachofthem.Differencebetween得意and上手Bothof上手and得意arewordstoindicatetoexpressproficiency.Themaindifferenceisthat得意canbeusedtoexplainotherpersonANDcanalsobeusedtoexplainaboutyourself.However,上手canonlybeusedtoexplaintheotherpersonandyouwillneveruseittoexplainaboutyourself.上手isoftenusedtocomplimentothers.Herearesomeexamplesof得意and上手田中さん、絵が上手ですねたなかさん、えがじょうずですねTanakasan,EgajouzudesuneMr.Tanaka,Youaregoodatdrawing私はバスケットボールが得意ですわたしはばすけっとぼーるがとくいですWatashiwaBasketballgatokuidesuI’mgoodatBasketball.彼は絵が上手です。

/彼は絵が得意です。

かれはえがじょうずです。

/かれはえがとくいです。

KarewaEgajouzudesu./KarewaEgatokuidesu.Heisgoodatdrawing.Inthefirstexample,youarecomplimentingMr.Tanakasousing得意makesthesentencealittleuncomfortable.Thesecondsentenceistalkingaboutyourself,sousing上手willmakeitsoundslikeyouarecomplimentingyourselfandthat’sabitweird.BecauseofJapanesevirtuetobemodestandpolite,youdon’treallycomplimentyourselfaloudasitcouldmakeyoulookarrogantandoverconfident.Inthelastexample,both得意and上手canbeusedasthissentenceisjusttalkingaboutone’sabilitytodraw.MainpointBothwordsaretoshowone’sproficiencyinsomething上手cannotbeusedtoyourselfandisoftenusedtocomplimentothers得意canbeusedtobothyourselfandothersbutifyouwanttocomplimentothers,youshoulduse上手Differencebetween苦手and下手Let’smoveontothenexttopic;下手and苦手.下手isusedtoexpressaperson’slackofskill.Ontheotherhand,苦手includethenuanceofdislike,unpleasant.苦手hasthesamemeaningas嫌い/きらい/Kirai/Hateandsometimes好きじゃない/すきじゃない/SukiJanai/Don’tlike.Exampleof下手and苦手私はサッカーが好きだ。

でも下手だわたしはさっかーがすきだ。

でもへただ。

Watashiwafootballgasukida.DemoHetada.IlikefootballbutI’mnotgoodatit.私はサッカーが好きだ。

でも苦手だわたしはさっかーがすきだ。

でもにがてだ。

Watashiwafootballgasukida.Demonigateda.IlikefootballbutI’mnotgoodatit.私は魚が苦手だ。

わたしはさかながにがてだ。

Watashiwasakanaganigateda.Idon’treallylikefish.Fromthefirstsentence,wecantellthatheispooratfootballalthoughhelikesit.Howaboutthesecondsentence?Englishtranslationseemsfinebutthisisalittleuncomfortable.Because苦手conveysthehintofone’sdislike,itcannotbeusedwiththeword好きwhichhascompletelyoppositemeaning.Andthelastsentenceistalkingaboutone’spreferenceandnottheability.Likethis,苦手canbeusedtoexplainnotonlyone’sproficiencybutalsoaboutonestaste.Thisarticlehasexploredthemeaningof得意,上手,苦手and下手Hereisthesummarisedlistofthemwiththemaindifference.上手:Tocomplimentone’sabilityorproficiency得意:Toexplainorstateone’sownorother’sabilityorproficiency苦手:Toshowoneisnotgoodatsomethingandimplythatonedoesnotreallylikethethingtheyaretalkingabout下手:TosimplyexplainthatonehasthepoorabilityanddoesnottakeonesfeelingintoaccountMomokaYamaguchi--MorefromSakuraJapanJapaneseLanguage&CultureSchoolFollowHi!WewillshareJapaneseculture!Lovepodcastsoraudiobooks?Learnonthegowithournewapp.TryKnowableRecommendedfromMediumJenniferWrightPsychicinDallasTX75223MartinaMianiDoingsomethingIthoughtIwouldneverhaddoneinmylifeKiriAnneRyanStewartHowtostopbeingignorantwiththisoneweirdtestAnuSharmaReplacementJasonDaly7BenefitsOfSelf-DisciplinebiodunudomHELLO,TWENTY-SIX:HOWTFDIDWEGETHERE?!SatyaRobynDearEarth,I’mamiracles-do-happenrealist.TonyCruiseKunle,2016AboutHelpTermsPrivacyGettheMediumappGetstartedSakuraJapanJapaneseLanguage&CultureSchool12FollowersHi!WewillshareJapaneseculture!FollowMorefromMediumjeiahAYearHavePassedAndI’mStillHereJennyloughran“Standingupformyself”byAutisticAuthorEvaleenWheltonTheTo&ThroughProjectCommunitiesareworkingtosolvethechallengestheyface.Arewegivingthemtherighttools?GabrielleReidFiveYANovelstoFilltheHarryPotterShapedHoleinYourHeartHelpStatusWritersBlogCareersPrivacyTermsAboutKnowable