# "good at"



## JaiHare

When we were kids, we used to say that we were "good at" a certain game. We might also hear that someone is really "good at" singing. How exactly is this expressed in Hebrew?

I've heard people say אני לא טוב בזה. Is this what is intended there? Is it cool to say:

אני לא טוב במשחק הזה.

And if so, how do you say that you're not good at doing something?

Thanks,
Jai


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## amikama

JaiHare said:


> I've heard people say אני לא טוב בזה. Is this what is intended there? Is it cool to say:
> 
> אני לא טוב במשחק הזה.


This is fine.

אני לא טוב בשחמט.
אני לא טוב במתמטיקה.
וכו'.




> And if so, how do you say that you're not good at doing something?


Infinitive (שם פועל) would be used:
אני מעדיף להשתמש במחשבון כי אני לא טוב בלחשב בראש.


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## JaiHare

amikama said:


> Infinitive (שם פועל) would be used:
> אני מעדיף להשתמש במחשבון כי אני לא טוב בלחשב בראש.


 
Thanks a lot for this. 

As to its pronunciation, I assume that people will say it as if it were בְּלְחַשֵּׁב but it should really be בִּלְחַשֵּׁב, right?

Another of the "good" and "bad" things is that people put two vocal shevas together, which is not at all allowed by the standards of the Massoretic vocalizations.


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## MaNitma

JaiHare said:


> Thanks a lot for this.
> 
> As to its pronunciation, I assume that people will say it as if it were בְּלְחַשֵּׁב but it should really be בִּלְחַשֵּׁב, right?
> 
> Another of the "good" and "bad" things is that people put two vocal shevas together, which is not at all allowed by the standards of the Massoretic vocalizations.



Yes, you'd probably hear "בְּלְחַשֵּׁב".

Even though "אני טוב ב" and "אני לא טוב ב" are perfect, there are also more colorful expressions such as:

"כדורסל זו לא המומחיות שלי"
"חישוב שברים עשרוניים זה לא הצד החזק שלי"


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## Flaminius

amikama said:


> Infinitive (שם פועל) would be used:
> אני מעדיף להשתמש במחשבון כי אני לא טוב בלחשב בראש.


I wonder if בראש contains the definite article?  _be-ro'sh_ or _ba-ro'sh_?


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## MaNitma

Flaminius said:


> I wonder if בראש contains the definite article?  _be-ro'sh_ or _ba-ro'sh_?



It's the definitive article, _ba'rosh_.

We humans only have one head, don't we?
Well, most of us do, anyway.


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## kopo

JaiHare said:


> Thanks a lot for this.
> 
> As to its pronunciation, I assume that people will say it as if it were בְּלְחַשֵּׁב but it should really be בִּלְחַשֵּׁב, right?
> 
> Another of the "good" and "bad" things is that people put two vocal shevas together, which is not at all allowed by the standards of the Massoretic vocalizations.



If we were sticking to strict grammar, we'd probably say בחשב and not בלחשב 

The prefixed ל isn't technically a part of the infinitive construct.


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## MaNitma

kopo said:


> If we were sticking to strict grammar, we'd probably say בחשב and not בלחשב
> 
> The prefixed ל isn't technically a part of the infinitive construct.



Well, I don't know what the Academy considers as correct nowadays, but it does seem that the "ל" wasn't originally a part of the infinitive:

המקור הנטוי (הקרוי גם "שם הפועל") נקרא כך מכיוון שניתן להוסיף לו את אותיות השימוש בכל"ם. המקור הנטוי נפוץ מאוד במקרא, הן בבידוד והן בצירוף כל אחת מאותיות בכל"ם (כִּשְׁמֹר, מִשְּׁמֹר, בִּשְׁמֹר, לִשְׁמֹר), אולם כבר בלשון התנאים (וכמובן, כיום) נפוצה צורת המקור אך ורק בצירוף ל' השימוש (לִשְׁמֹר).

http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/שם_הפועל

*EDIT:* I just sent an e-mail to the Academy regarding this. I'll post the answer once I receive it.


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## MaNitma

Well, I asked the Academy, and according to them the name "שם הפועל" refers only to the form with "ל' השימוש" attached to it. The "stripped" form is called "מקור מוחלט".

I found an interesting summary/article about the subject, here:
http://www.safa-ivrit.org/dikduk/makor.php


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