のがへた (JLPT N5)

About のがへた

～のが下手(へた) is a phrase that behaves in almost exactly the same way as ～のが上手(じょうず), but rather than meaning 'to be good at (A)', it means 'to be bad at (A)', (which is a much more handy expression, if you are like me!). This particular expression is used with the plain (dictionary) form of verbs only.

In these examples, we can see that there is no difference between Ichidan verbs and Godan verbs. Both will appear in their plain form. In this expression, のが is performing the same function as in the regular のは, and のが constructions. This function is nominalization (turning a phrase into a noun). However, のは cannot be used with this phrase, as が is always required with adjectives.

Caution

If you want to express that you were bad at something (in the past), the verb will still remain in the plain form, but 下手(へた) will change to the past tense.

Examples

--:--

私(わたし)はチェスをするのがへただ。

I'm bad at chess. (unskillful)

カタカナを覚(おぼ)えるのがへた。

I'm poor at remembering Katakana. (unskillful)

サッカーをするのがへたです。

I'm bad at playing soccer. (unskillful)

彼女(かのじょ)は勉強(べんきょう)するのがへた。

She is bad at studying. (unskillful)

彼(かれ)は漢字(かんじ)を書(か)くのがへた。

He is bad at writing kanji. (unskillful)

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  Imabi

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のがへた – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

Jake
**to be bad at
- poor
- unskillful**
Structure
- Verb + の・が・下手
View on Bunpro
cecilewhat
A native Japanese corrected me using は instead of が, is it still correct?
For 絵わ書けるかどキャラクターは下手！
mrnoone
は with 好き・嫌い・上手・下手 is only used when we want to show contrast.

And this is a classic example.
絵は描けるけどキャラクター（を描くの）は下手！
I can draw, but I am bad at (drawing) characters.

Being able to draw is contrasted with inability to draw characters.

Cheers,
cecilewhat
Oh I see !! Thank you very much for the explanation
ulurujamman
Why is the translation for 私はパンを作るのが下手すぎる - “I’m quite bad at making bread” and not “i’m very bad at making bread”?
Pushindawood
Good question! I have updated the translation to better reflect the Japanese. Cheers!
Melanthe
With “I’m not good at remembering katakana”, why is のがへただ not a correct answer? It only accepts のがへた, but I thought へた is a な-adjective and therefore だ can be used in casual sentences?
Pushindawood
@Melanthe Sorry about that! Looks like we were missing the alternative answer for this review question. Thank you for drawing this to our attention so that we could get it fixed. Cheers!
Myria
彼かれは、自転車じてんしゃを乗のるのがへただろう。

I think it should be 自転車に乗る? Or is this a recent development where both を and に are starting to get feasible for 乗る.