Tokui and Nigate Meaning: Good At and Bad At in Japanese, Without Boasting

Tokui (得意) means something you are good at and confident in, nigate (苦手) means something you are poor at or cannot handle, and unlike jōzu and heta, both are natural to use about yourself, which makes them the words for self-introductions and interviews.

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Tokui and Nigate Meaning: Good At and Bad At in Japanese, Without Boasting

Every learner meets jōzu and heta first, and then discovers that Japanese people almost never say jōzu about themselves. The words they use instead are tokui and nigate, and they cover far more than skill. Tokui is your strong suit, the thing you do with confidence; nigate is your weak spot, and it stretches to foods you cannot eat, people you find hard to deal with and situations that make you uncomfortable. This guide explains the pair, contrasts them with jōzu, heta and the casual umai, shows the ga pattern they share with suki, and walks through the three places you will need them most: self-introductions, job interviews and the dinner table. It also covers the compounds tokui-ryōri, your signature dish, and nigate ishiki, a sense of being bad at something. A comparison table and a section on common mistakes finish it off.

Tokui and nigate describe yourself; jōzu and heta describe others

Both take ga: eigo ga tokui desu, asa ga nigate desu

Nigate also covers foods, people and situations you cannot handle

Tokui-ryōri is your signature dish; nigate ishiki is a mental block

Tokui and nigate: the basic pair

Tokui (得意) is made of the kanji for gain and mind, and it means something you are confident and comfortable doing, a strength. Nigate (苦手) is made of the kanji for bitter and hand, a hand that struggles, and it means a weak point or something you cannot handle well. Both are na-adjectives: tokui desu, tokui deshita, tokui ja nai desu, and tokui na plus a noun.

The thing you are good or bad at takes ga, exactly as with suki and kirai: eigo ga tokui desu, unten ga nigate desu. To talk about an action, turn the verb into a noun first with no or koto: hito to hanasu no ga tokui desu, I'm good at talking to people; hayaoki suru no ga nigate desu, I'm bad at getting up early.

Because tokui is about confidence rather than measured skill, it can be used honestly even when you are merely competent. Saying ryōri ga tokui desu means cooking is something you enjoy and can do, not that you are a chef. Japanese people say it freely, and it does not sound like bragging.

Mochi, Unihongo's mascot, guides a Japanese learning map for Tokui and Nigate Meaning: Good At and Bad At in Japanese, Without Boasting: 料理, 得意, 数学.
A visual learning path for Tokui and Nigate Meaning: Good At and Bad At in Japanese, Without Boasting, with three key Japanese study points.
JapaneseRomajiMeaning
料理が得意です。Ryōri ga tokui desu.I'm good at cooking.
数学はちょっと苦手です。Sūgaku wa chotto nigate desu.I'm a bit weak at maths.
人と話すのが得意です。Hito to hanasu no ga tokui desu.I'm good at talking to people.
早起きするのが苦手です。Hayaoki suru no ga nigate desu.I'm bad at getting up early.
得意な科目は何ですか。Tokui na kamoku wa nan desu ka.What is your strongest subject?
苦手だったけど、だいぶ慣れました。Nigate datta kedo, daibu naremashita.I used to be bad at it, but I've got used to it.

Tokui and nigate versus jōzu, heta and umai

Jōzu (上手) and heta (下手) measure skill as an observer would, and that is why they are awkward about yourself. Nihongo ga jōzu desu ne is the compliment every learner hears; nihongo ga jōzu desu about your own Japanese sounds like a claim you are inviting people to test. Heta about yourself is fine and humble, e ga heta desu, I'm bad at drawing, but heta about someone else is blunt.

The rule of thumb: jōzu for other people's skill, tokui for your own strengths, heta or nigate for your own weaknesses, and nigate for other people's weaknesses if you must mention them. Between heta and nigate about yourself, heta says your output is poor; nigate says the whole area is uncomfortable for you. Uta ga heta means you sing badly; uta ga nigate means you would rather not sing at all.

Umai (うまい) is the casual word for skilful, used between friends and often about a specific performance: kimi, umai ne, you're good. It is also the casual word for delicious, which context separates. In writing and polite speech, o-jōzu is the respectful form of jōzu, used when praising a customer or a senior.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
日本語がお上手ですね。Nihongo ga o-jōzu desu ne.Your Japanese is very good.
いえいえ、まだまだです。Ie ie, mada mada desu.Not at all, I still have a long way to go.
絵は下手ですが、好きです。E wa heta desu ga, suki desu.I'm bad at drawing, but I like it.
歌は苦手なので、聞く方が好きです。Uta wa nigate na node, kiku hō ga suki desu.I'm not a singer, so I'd rather listen.
田中さん、ギターうまいね。Tanaka-san, gitā umai ne.Tanaka, you're good at guitar.

Nigate for foods, people and situations

Nigate goes well beyond skill, and this is where it becomes one of the most useful words in polite Japanese. For food, it is the standard way to say you cannot eat something by preference: nattō ga nigate desu. Hosts and restaurants ask nigate na mono wa arimasu ka, and the word lets you answer without criticising the dish.

For people, nigate na hito is someone you find hard to deal with, a phrase far gentler than kirai. Ano hito wa chotto nigate de, I'm not great with that person, is how adults talk about a difficult colleague. For situations, nigate covers anything that makes you uncomfortable: crowds, heights, small talk, early mornings, hot weather, phone calls. The pattern is the same each time, X ga nigate desu, and it always sounds modest because the fault is placed on you.

The positive side works too. Tokui is also used for situations you handle well and for things you are known for: asa ni tsuyoi, strong in the morning, is more common for mornings, but hitomae de hanasu no ga tokui, good at speaking in front of people, is a standard self-description.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
納豆が苦手です。Nattō ga nigate desu.I can't really eat natto.
人混みが苦手です。Hitogomi ga nigate desu.I'm not good with crowds.
電話がちょっと苦手なんです。Denwa ga chotto nigate na n desu.I'm a bit uncomfortable on the phone.
あの人はちょっと苦手で。Ano hito wa chotto nigate de.I find that person a bit hard to deal with.
暑いのが苦手です。Atsui no ga nigate desu.I don't cope well with heat.
人前で話すのが得意です。Hitomae de hanasu no ga tokui desu.I'm good at speaking in front of people.

Self-introductions and small talk

A Japanese self-introduction, jiko shōkai, often includes one strength and one endearing weakness, and tokui and nigate are the words that carry them. The shape is name, where you are from, what you do, then tokui na koto wa X desu and nigate na koto wa Y desu, finished with yoroshiku onegai shimasu. A concrete tokui gives people something to ask about; a light nigate makes you human.

Two compounds turn up in this small talk. Tokui-ryōri is your signature dish, the food you cook best, and tokui-ryōri wa nan desu ka is a favourite question at dinners and welcome parties. The answer is one dish: karē desu, or nikujaga desu. Tokui-waza is a signature move or trick, used playfully about a party skill, and tokui-bun'ya is your field of expertise, the formal version for work.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
得意なことは写真を撮ることです。Tokui na koto wa shashin o toru koto desu.Something I'm good at is taking photos.
苦手なことは片付けです。Nigate na koto wa katazuke desu.Something I'm bad at is tidying up.
得意料理は何ですか。Tokui-ryōri wa nan desu ka.What's your signature dish?
得意料理はカレーです。Tokui-ryōri wa karē desu.My signature dish is curry.
得意分野はマーケティングです。Tokui-bun'ya wa māketingu desu.My area of expertise is marketing.

Job interviews: strengths, weaknesses and nigate ishiki

Japanese interviews ask about strengths and weaknesses almost every time, often with the formal nouns chōsho and tansho, or with the question tokui na koto to nigate na koto o oshiete kudasai. The winning answer for tokui is a strength, an example and a result. The winning answer for nigate is a weakness, an honest acknowledgement and what you are doing about it. Interviewers care more about the second half than the weakness itself.

Nigate ishiki, a consciousness of being bad at something, is the word for a mental block: the feeling that you are no good at math or at speaking English, whether or not it is true. Nigate ishiki ga aru means you have that block; nigate ishiki o kokufuku suru means to overcome it. It is a mature phrase for an interview or a conversation about learning, because it separates the feeling from the fact.

Kokufuku suru, to overcome, and naoshite iru, working to fix, are the verbs that turn a nigate answer into a positive one. Keep it short: one weakness, one plan.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
得意なことは、データを分かりやすくまとめることです。Tokui na koto wa, dēta o wakariyasuku matomeru koto desu.My strength is summarising data clearly.
人前で話すのが苦手でしたが、練習を続けています。Hitomae de hanasu no ga nigate deshita ga, renshū o tsuzukete imasu.I was bad at speaking in public, but I keep practising.
英語に苦手意識がありました。Eigo ni nigate ishiki ga arimashita.I used to have a mental block about English.
苦手意識を克服するために、毎日話しています。Nigate ishiki o kokufuku suru tame ni, mainichi hanashite imasu.To overcome that block, I speak every day.
長所は粘り強いところです。Chōsho wa nebarizuyoi tokoro desu.My strong point is that I'm persistent.
短所は心配しすぎるところです。Tansho wa shinpai shisugiru tokoro desu.My weak point is that I worry too much.

Skill and preference words compared

The words below all describe being good or bad at something, or comfortable or uncomfortable with it. The right choice depends on two things: whether you are talking about yourself or someone else, and whether you mean skill or ease.

WordReadingMeaning and who it is for
得意tokuigood at, confident in; about yourself
苦手nigatebad at, can't handle; yourself, foods, people, situations
上手jōzuskilful; praise for others
お上手o-jōzuskilful; respectful praise
下手hetaunskilful; humble about yourself, blunt about others
うまいumaigood at; casual, friends; also delicious
得意料理tokui-ryōrisignature dish
得意分野tokui-bun'yafield of expertise
得意技tokui-wazasignature move or trick
苦手意識nigate ishikimental block, sense of being bad at something
長所chōshostrong point (formal, interviews)
短所tanshoweak point (formal, interviews)

Tokui has one more sense to know: tokui-saki or o-tokui-sama means a regular customer or client. If a shop owner mentions o-tokui-sama, they are talking about their best customers, not their skills.

Common mistakes with tokui and nigate

The first mistake is saying jōzu about yourself. Watashi wa nihongo ga jōzu desu is grammatical and sounds boastful; say nihongo ga sukoshi tokui desu, or better, nihongo o benkyō shite imasu. The second is using o: eigo o tokui desu should be eigo ga tokui desu. The third is forgetting na before a noun: tokui na kamoku, not tokui kamoku.

The fourth is using heta about another person. Kare wa uta ga heta desu is a harsh judgement; if you must say it, kare wa uta ga nigate mitai desu, he seems not to be a singer, is gentler. The fifth is answering a food question with kirai instead of nigate, which makes a preference sound like a verdict. And the sixth is offering a nigate in an interview with no plan attached; the plan is the point of the question.

  • Tokui for your own strengths, jōzu for other people's skill
  • Mark the thing with ga, never o
  • Put na before a noun: tokui na kamoku, nigate na tabemono
  • Use nigate, not heta, when describing someone else's weak spot
  • Pair every interview nigate with a sentence about improving it
Key points

A practical way to improve

These words come alive in introductions, so practise the two conversations where they matter. Ask your AI Sensei in Unihongo's immersive 3D classroom to run the Japanese Job Interview mission and ask you tokui na koto and nigate na koto in turn; answer each with a concrete example and, for nigate, a sentence about how you are working on it. Then do a relaxed jiko shōkai with the Sensei playing a new neighbour, mentioning one tokui hobby and one nigate food. For a third round, try the First Round at an Izakaya mission and use nigate to steer the order away from what you cannot eat. Unihongo's free learning games will give you the food, hobby and skill vocabulary to fill those sentences with something specific.

  1. 1

    Choose one clear goal

    Focus each session on a situation or skill you can actually use.

  2. 2

    Practice actively

    Say complete answers aloud instead of only reading or recognizing Japanese.

  3. 3

    Review and repeat

    Keep useful corrections and revisit the same skill until it feels natural.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between tokui and jōzu?

Both mean good at, but jōzu is a judgement of skill from outside, so it is used to praise other people and sounds boastful about yourself. Tokui means your strong point, something you are confident in, and is the normal way to talk about your own abilities. Say eigo ga jōzu desu ne to a friend and eigo ga tokui desu about yourself.

What does nigate mean in Japanese?

Nigate, written 苦手, means bad at, weak in or unable to handle. It covers skills, such as math being nigate, but also foods you cannot eat, people you find difficult and situations you dislike, such as early mornings or crowds. It is polite because it frames the problem as your own limitation rather than criticising the thing itself.

Which particle do tokui and nigate take?

Both take ga for the thing you are good or bad at: ryōri ga tokui desu, I'm good at cooking; sūgaku ga nigate desu, I'm bad at math. They are na-adjectives, so before a noun they take na: tokui na kamoku, a strong subject; nigate na tabemono, a food you cannot handle. For an action, turn the verb into a noun with no or koto first.

How do I say what I am good at in a Japanese job interview?

Use tokui with a concrete example and a result. Watashi no tokui na koto wa, dēta bunseki desu, my strength is data analysis, then a sentence about what it achieved. For weaknesses, use nigate with an improvement plan: hitomae de hanasu no ga nigate deshita ga, purezen no renshū o tsuzukete imasu, I was bad at speaking in public, but I keep practising presentations.

What is tokui-ryōri?

Tokui-ryōri is your signature dish, the food you cook best and are happy to serve. It is a common small-talk question, tokui-ryōri wa nan desu ka, and a good answer is one dish, such as karē desu, curry. Nigate na ryōri, by contrast, means a dish you cannot make well, or one you cannot eat, depending on context.

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