N을/를 잘 못하다usage
to be not very good at
Says you can’t do something well. 못하다 on its own means “can’t”; adding 잘 softens it to “can’t do it well”, which is the usual way to be modest about yourself.
접속 conjugation
- N + 을/를 잘 못하다
- 운전운전을 잘 못해요
- 요리요리를 잘 못합니다
- with a verb, use V-는 걸 잘 못하다 or 잘 못 V
- 일찍 일어나는 걸 잘 못해요
- drop 잘 and it gets blunter
- 요리를 못해요 (can’t cook at all)
예문
EXAMPLES
저는 운전을 잘 못합니다.
I'm not very good at driving.from 2026.08.31 Mon the examples
그렇군요. 사실 저는 아직 이런 자료를 잘 못해서 시간이 좀 걸릴 것 같습니다.
I see. To be honest I’m not very good at this kind of material yet, so it may take me a while.from 2026.08.31 Mon the business dialogue
동생은 수영을 잘 못해요.
My younger sibling isn’t very good at swimming.from 2026.09.01 Tue the examples
저는 노래를 잘 못해요.
I’m not very good at singing.from 2026.09.01 Tue the examples
나 아침에 일찍 일어나는 걸 잘 못해서... 그게 제일 어려워.
I’m not very good at getting up early… that’s the hard part.from 2026.09.01 Tue the everyday dialogue
N을/를 잘 못하다 vs. 잘못하다、안 하다
※Spaced, 잘 못하다 means “can’t do it well”; written as one word, 잘못하다 means “to do something wrong” — quite different. Note too that 못하다 is about ability, while 안 하다 is about not wanting to.Appears in
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