How To Describe Someone Who Is Good At Something In English

When you do something over and over again,

eventually you get good at it.

When you practice something, eventually you get good at it.

This is the English phrase we use

when we talk about someone who does something

really, really well.

We say they're good at it.

If you practice basketball a lot,

eventually you're good at playing basketball.

If you arrange a lot of flowers,

if you make a lot of bouquets,

eventually we say you're good at making bouquets,

but there are other phrases you can use.

This is definitely the most common phrase,

but there are other phrases you can use

to describe someone who does something really, really well.

And that's what I'm gonna tell you about

in this English lesson.

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Let's start by talking about the English phrase,

to be good with.

We use this phrase when we're talking about people

who are good at talking to other people.

People who are good at making other people

feel very comfortable.

We use this phrase when talking about people

who are really good at taking care of children

or people who are good at taking care of dogs

or cats or other pets.

You might hear sentences like this.

He's a great salesman. He's good with people.

She's an excellent teacher. She's good with little kids.

She's an excellent veterinarian.

She's good with dogs and she's good with cats.

So instead of saying that the person

is good at that job,

the alternative is to say they are good with,

and then to mention the people

or animal that the person is good with.

So, she's good at taking care of animals.

She's good with animals.

Another way to say someone is good at something in English

is to use the phrase, to have a way with.

When you say someone has a way with something,

it means they're good at it.

The most common phrase,

and it's a phrase you've probably heard before,

is to say someone has a way with words.

He's a really good speaker. He has a way with words.

She's a really good writer. She has a way with words.

But you can use this phrase

to talk about other things as well.

You could say this.

Jen is really good at growing flowers.

She has a way with flowers.

You can also use this to talk about pets again.

You could say when she's around dogs,

they're always happy and really like her.

She has a way with dogs.

So another way in English to say someone

is really, really good at something

is to use the phrase, to have a way with.

Now, if you know someone who's just really good

at talking to people, someone who's really good

at making people feel comfortable and enjoy themselves,

you might use the English term people person.

You might say things like this.

I love visiting my uncle. He's a people person.

He greets me at the door. He gets me a cup of tea.

We sit down and chat and laugh.

He makes me feel comfortable

and it's very enjoyable to be around him.

He's a real people person.

So, this is just specific to people

who are good at talking to other people.

People who are good at making other people feel comfortable

and enjoy their presence.

We would describe that person by saying

they're a people person.

And if you wanna emphasize it,

you would add the word real,

and you would say, they're a real people person.

I really enjoy talking to my uncle.

He's a real people person.

When you need to get something fixed,

you want the person who fixes it

to be good at fixing that item.

In English we might use the English phrase,

to know their stuff.

If your computer is broken and your nephew

is going to fix it,

you hope that he knows his stuff.

You hope that he is an expert

at fixing your particular computer problem.

When you take your car to the garage,

you hope that the mechanic knows her stuff.

You hope that she's studied and read manuals,

and gone and taken classes

about how to fix your particular problem.

So instead of saying, they're good at fixing computers

or good at fixing cars,

you can simply say they know their stuff.

He's good at fixing computers. He knows his stuff.

She's good at fixing cars. She knows her stuff.

When we talk about hiring someone

to fix something or hiring someone to do some work for you,

we want them to be good at what they do

but we also want them to be professional.

So when someone comes and maybe puts a new window

in your house,

you want them to be good at replacing windows.

But as they do it, you want them to be professional as well.

When we say someone is professional

when they do their work, oh, they were very professional

when they replaced the window,

so what we mean is that they were kind, they were polite.

They cleaned up after themselves.

They did a really nice job.

They didn't just rip the old window out,

stick the new one in, and leave without talking to you.

They did a really nice job

and they kind of communicated well along the way.

And they finished the job in a way

where you were very, very happy.

So, when you hire someone to fix something

or do something on your house or apartment,

it's really good if they're good at it,

but it's also really nice

if they can be professional while they're doing it.

When you're talking about someone who's good at something,

maybe a little more musical or artistic,

you can use the English word talented.

You can use the word talented to say

that they're good at something.

Here are a few examples.

You could say.

He's a very talented guitar player.

She's a very talented painter.

He's a very talented piano player.

She's a very talented singer.

When you say that someone is good at playing guitar

or good at singing, it doesn't sound fancy enough for me.

I like to use the word talented.

If I say he's really good at playing guitar,

it just doesn't sound as good as saying

he's a talented guitar player.

That just sounds way better.

And it makes for a better description

of how good that person is at playing the guitar.

So when we're talking about something that isn't artistic

or musical, we might use the English word skilled.

You might say things like this.

She's a skilled video editor.

He's a skilled carpenter.

Because these people have learned a skill,

they've learned to do something

that they're really, really good at,

we use the word skilled to describe it.

She's a skilled video editor. He's a skilled carpenter.

When we say phrases like that,

we're definitely saying this person has done it a lot.

They've learned how to do this really, really well,

and they're really, really good at it.

They are just very, very skilled.

Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson

where I gave you some other options to use

when describing someone

who's really, really good at something.

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if this video helped you learn a little bit more English

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