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.

去年(きょねん)まで料理(りょうり)をするのが下手(へた)だった。

Until last year, I was bad at cooking.

Synonyms

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]

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)

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のがへた – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

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.