Search from various 영어 teachers...
Nao
how to use " be good at..."? Is the following usage of "be good at" proper?? 1) I'm good at playing tennis. 2) I'm good at tennis. 3) I'm good at speaking English. 4) I'm good at English. Especially, 3) and 4), which is more natural to say? Do they have any different meaning?
2009년 1월 16일 오후 1:00
답변 · 3
2
Hi Nao They're all correct. With 1 and 2 you can use either - they both have the same meaning. You don't usually have to say 'playing' because it is taken for granted in conversation. If you wanted it to be something else, you would say it, such as 'I'm good at watching tennis'. With 3 and 4 they can have different meanings, depending on what you are trying to say. With tennis, you can fairly safely assume that someone is 'playing' tennis. With 'English' you cannot safely assume that they are 'speaking'; there are many things that you can do, like 'study', 'read', 'write' as well as speaking. So, 3 is explicitly saying that you are good at speaking English, but 4 is not. You might use 4 in response to a question like 'What lessons do you prefer at school?' On the other hand, if a question directs your answer, you could use it like this: 'What languages can you speak?' - then your answer can be 'I'm good at English'.
2009년 1월 16일
1
I've answered at the same time with DanO, so it is obvious that both are correct :))
2009년 1월 16일
1
To be good at smth - to be able to do smth well. I think both versions are acceptable, let's wait what native speakers will say.
2009년 1월 16일
아직도 답을 찾지 못하셨나요?
질문을 남겨보세요. 원어민이 도움을 줄 수 있을 거예요!

집에서 편안하게 언어를 배울 수 있는 기회를 놓치지 마세요. 경험 많은 강사진을 살펴보고 지금 바로 첫 수업을 신청하세요!