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Unit 18: To be good/bad at (잘하다, 못하다)

In Easy Korean, it is very simple to say you are good at or bad at something.

1. 잘하다 (To do well / To be good at)

  • 한국어를 잘해요. (I am good at Korean / I speak Korean well.)
  • 요리를 잘해요. (I am good at cooking.)

2. 못하다 (To do poorly / To be bad at)

  • 노래를 못해요. (I am bad at singing.)
  • 수영을 못해요. (I am bad at swimming.)

(Note: '못하다' also means "cannot do" depending on context, but here we focus on ability levels!)

3. 잘 못하다 (To be not so good at)

If saying you are "bad" at it is too harsh, you can say you "cannot do it well." - 저는 영어를 잘 못해요. (I am not very good at English.)

Structure for Verbs

If you want to use a regular verb (not a noun), you can just place 잘 (well) or 못 (poorly/cannot) in front of the verb. - 잘 먹어요. (I eat well / I eat a lot.) - 못 자요. (I cannot sleep / I sleep poorly.)