How To Describe Someone Who Is Bad At Something In English

In my last English lesson,

I helped you learn some English phrases you can use

to talk about someone who's good at something.

In this English lesson,

I'm going to teach you some phrases you can use

to describe someone who's bad at something,

someone who doesn't do something very well.

And that's the most common phrase that I just said:

to be bad at something.

You might hear sentences like this:

I'm bad at basketball.

I'm actually bad at basketball.

He's bad at sports.

She's bad at video games.

When we use this phrase,

we're describing someone who does something,

but when they do it,

they don't do it very well at all.

So, in this English lesson,

I'll teach you a few more ways to describe someone

who's bad at something.

(upbeat music)

Another way we describe someone in English

who isn't good at something,

a way we describe someone who's bad at something,

is to use one of the four following phrases:

you could say no good at,

you could say not good at,

you could say not any good at,

or you could say not very good at.

You might hear sentences like this:

I'm no good at cooking,

I'm not good at cooking,

I'm not any good at cooking,

or I'm not very good at cooking.

These are all common ways to describe someone

who isn't good at cooking,

someone who's bad at cooking,

and they're all used quite interchangeably,

and they're all quite common.

As an English speaker,

I'm not even sure why I choose the one I choose

when I'm talking about someone who's not good at something.

It just kind of happens automatically.

So, no good at,

not good at,

not any good at,

and not very good at.

Another phrase we use in English

to describe someone who's bad at something

is the phrase to suck at something.

Now, this is very, very informal.

You wouldn't want to use this phrase

when talking to your boss,

or in a formal conversation,

but when you're around friends and family,

I think it's okay for you to use it.

I use it all the time

when I describe something that I'm bad at.

You might hear somebody say something like this:

I'm always broke.

I suck at managing my money.

Someone who says this is,

obviously, always running out of money.

They never have any money in their wallet

because they suck at managing their money.

They just spend it really quickly,

and then they don't have any left.

So, when they describe it,

they might say, "I suck at managing my money."

Another way to describe someone

who's bad at something in English

is to use the words horrible and terrible.

You might hear somebody say something like this:

I'm a horrible driver,

or I'm a terrible golfer.

Maybe a friend of yours wants to go on a trip

and they want you to drive,

you might say, "No, no, no.

I would prefer that you drive

because I'm a horrible driver."

Someone might say, "Hey, let's go golfing on Saturday,"

and maybe you're not good at golfing at all,

maybe you're really bad at golfing,

you might say to them,

"No, no, I'd rather go bowling

because I'm a terrible golfer."

So, one other way to describe someone

who's bad at something in English

is to use the words horrible or terrible.

Another phrase you might hear English speakers use

when talking about someone who's bad at something

is the phrase useless when it comes to.

It's a bit of a mouthful.

It's a lot of words to use

to describe someone who's bad at something,

but we do say this.

You might hear sentences like this:

I'm useless when it comes to computers,

this would be said by someone

who isn't very good at using computers,

or I'm useless when it comes to fixing things,

this would be used by someone

who isn't really good at repairing and fixing things.

I would say this,

"I'm not useless when it comes to computers,

but I am useless when it comes to fixing things."

If my car's broken I send it to the garage

because I'm useless when it comes to fixing cars.

Sometimes people go to school to learn how to do something,

or they'll get training,

so that they're good at it.

But if they get training,

or go to school,

and then they're not good at it,

if they're bad at it,

we might use the word incompetent.

You don't want to send kids to a school

where the teachers are incompetent.

You don't want to go to the hospital for surgery

if the doctor is incompetent.

This is a way we describe people who have training,

people who have been taught how to do something,

and they're still not good at it,

they're still bad at it,

we would use the word incompetent.

Sometimes when we're bad at something,

we use the word hopeless to talk about it.

You might hear someone say something like this:

I'm hopeless at writing in English,

I'm good at speaking English,

but I'm hopeless at writing in English.

Maybe you know someone who buys lots of house plants

and they always die.

That person might say I'm hopeless

at taking care of house plants.

So, one more way to describe someone

who's bad at something in English

is to use the word hopeless.

In the last English lesson,

I talked about people doing work

and being very professional when they do it.

We also have the word unprofessional

to describe people who are bad at their work

or don't do it in a very nice or kind way.

In the past lesson,

I used the example

that the window installers were very professional.

If the window installers had broken the window

and left broken glass on the ground

and tracked mud into your house

when they were going in and out,

we would say that they were very unprofessional.

So, when you're describing someone who's bad at something

but also not very kind or considerate when they're doing it,

we would use the English word unprofessional.

Well, thank you so much

for watching this English lesson

about how to describe people

who are bad at something in English.

Hopefully, you use more of these sentences

from the previous lesson

where I talked about how to describe people

who are good at something.

But sometimes,

people are bad at something

and you just have to know how to describe it.

Hey, if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button there.

Give me a thumbs up

if this video helped you learn a bit more English.

Leave a comment below,

and if you have a little bit more time,

why don't you stick around and watch another English lesson?

(upbeat music)