Unit 29: Good at, Bad at (잘하다, 못하다)

How do you say "I speak Korean well" or "I am bad at singing"? In Korean, we use two very simple verbs: 잘하다 (to do well) and 못하다 (to do poorly).

1. 잘하다 (jal-ha-da) = To be good at / To do well

The word 잘 means "well," and 하다 means "to do." So together, they mean "to do well" or "to be good at (something)."

• 요리(를) 잘해요. = I am good at cooking. (요리 = cooking)
• 수영(을) 잘해요. = I am good at swimming. (수영 = swimming)
• 한국어(를) 잘해요. = I speak Korean well. (한국어 = Korean language)

Notice how you just put the Noun in front of 잘해요!

2. 못하다 (mo-ta-da) = To be bad at / To do poorly

In Unit 23, we learned that 못 means "cannot". When combined into one word as 못하다, it means "to be poor at" or "to be bad at."

• 노래(를) 못해요. = I am bad at singing. (노래 = song/singing)
• 요리(를) 못해요. = I am bad at cooking.

(Note: There is a slight nuance difference depending on context whether 못해요 means "I am physically unable to do it" or "I am just bad at it," but usually the context makes it obvious!)

3. 잘 못하다 (jal mo-ta-da) = To be "not that good" at

Koreans are very humble. If someone asks if you are good at Korean, saying "못해요" (I am bad at it) can sound a bit harsh or absolute.

A softer, much more common way to say you are bad at something is to say 잘 못해요 (Literally: I cannot do it well / I am not that good at it).

• 한국어 잘 못해요. = I am not very good at Korean.
• 수영 잘 못해요. = I am not good at swimming.

Summary

• 잘해요 = I am good at...
• 못해요 = I am bad at... / I cannot do...
• 잘 못해요 = I am not very good at... (Humble and common!)