のがじょうず (no ga jouzu) Meaning Japanese Grammar - Be Good At

The expression のがじょうず (no ga jouzu) means to be good at doing something.

Its antonym is のがへた which we use to say be bad at, be unskillful.

In this post we learn more about the meaning of のがじょうず, how it is formed and when のがじょうず is used through real example sentences.

Expressing ability through the noun

Let's start with the basic and short form that expresses skill in some field or in our daily activities.

It consists of:

が上(じょう)手(ず) with the Verb する

Many expressions and verbs of common use are formed by: a Noun + the verb する do.

• 料(りょう)理(り)する cook
• スポーツする play sports
• 電(でん)話(わ)する telephone

The verb する is omitted and only the noun is used.

We find the same form with various other adjectives:

• が下手(へた)だ the antonym of 上(じょう)手(ず)だ: not being good at something
• が好(す)きだ to indicate what we like
• が嫌(きら)いだ to express what we dislike, we hate
• が苦(にが)手(て)だ to represent our weak points

You're really good at Japanese!

Expressing ability through the verb

のが上(じょう)手(ず) is used when we want to express ability in a certain field or as we have anticipated in actions of our daily life.

How to form のが上(じょう)手(ず)

In the structure we are analysing in this post we find the な Adjective: 上(じょう)手(ず)な meaning skillful, proficient, good at.

We have seen by studying adjectives the attributive function in which the adjective precedes the noun and maintains the syllabe な.

In the predicative function the adjective loses the particle な and is followed by the copula だ

The form のが上(じょう)手(ず) consists of:

• the verb in its plain form
• the particle の that nominalises, transforms the predicate into a noun
• the particle が which indicates the subject
• the adjective 上(じょう)手(ず)な

The structure のが上(じょう)手(ず) can be followed:

• by the copula だ: I am good at
• by になる: become good at, improve
• by a noun: のが上(じょう)手(ず)な + noun

上(じょう)手(ず) and 上手(うま)い

上手 is also read 上手(うま)い and becomes an い Adjective. うまい means good, skillful and also delicious, tasty referring to food and drinks. From a blog on the Internet, the title shows the two readings: じょうず and うまい.

KanjiNo FuriganaKanaRomaji

子(こ)育(そだ)てが上(じょう)手(ず)になるには？子(こ)育(そだ)てが上手(うま)い人(ひと)の特(とく)徴(ちょう)「3つの法(ほう)則(そく)」

How to become a good parent? Characteristics of people who are good at raising children: Three rules

• sentence 上(じょう)手(ず)になる: becoming good at
• 上手(うま)い人(ひと) a skillful person: usage of な Adjective + noun

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KanjiNo FuriganaKanaRomaji

歌(うた)が上手(うま)くなりたい。

I want to become good at singing songs.

Adverbial use:

• 上(じょう)手(ず)になる become good: with な Adjectives the adverb is formed with the particle に
• 上手(うま)くなる become good: with い Adjectives, the adverb is obtained by removing the vowel い and adding く + verb

上(じょう)手(ず) and 得(とく)意(い)

上(じょう)手(ず) is not used in the first person or referring to uchi, the sphere of family members and intimate persons. When we want to say that we or a member of our family is skilled at something we use 得意 tokui.

得(とく)意(い) can also be used when talking about other people.

Examples of のがじょうず

ピアノを弾(ひ)く: play piano