上手な（じょうずな、jouzuna）
- good

The Japanese word 上手な (じょうずな) means "skillful," "good at," "proficient," or "adept." It describes someone's ability or skill in a particular area. The word is an adjective and is often used to praise someone's abilities or to describe how well someone does something. The 「な」 is a na-adjective marker. This means it functions like an adjective but also has properties of a verb. You can modify nouns with 上手な上手な, but also use it with the verb です (desu) to create a polite description of someone's skill.

⚫︎ 彼女は料理が上手なです。 Translation: She is good at cooking. ⚫︎ 彼は日本語が上手なです。 Translation: He is good at Japanese. ⚫︎ 上手な絵ですね！ Translation: That's a skillful painting!

⚫︎ Use 上手な上手な when you want to compliment someone's ability or skill. ⚫︎ You can use it to describe a person's abilities in various areas like sports, languages, cooking, art, etc. ⚫︎ You can modify a noun using 上手な上手な by placing it before the noun. For example, 上手な料理 (good cooking). ⚫︎ You can also use it with です (desu) to state someone's skills. For example, 彼は上手なです (He is good at it). ⚫︎ Be mindful of the context and the person you are talking to. Using 上手な上手な is generally positive, but in some cases, it can sound overly praising, so consider the situation and your relationship with the person.

⚫︎ 上手な上手な is typically written as 上手な in kanji and hiragana. ⚫︎ The reading is じょうずな (jōzu na). ⚫︎ There are no significant variations in okurigana.

⚫︎ 得意な (tokui na) - good at, skilled at, strong in ⚫︎ 達人 (tatsujin) - expert, master (noun) ⚫︎ うまい (umai) - skillful, good (informal)

⚫︎ 下手な (heta na) - not good at, unskilled ⚫︎ 苦手な (nigate na) - weak at, not good at

彼は上手なサッカー選手です。 ・Translation: He is a skillful soccer player. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the subject's skill in soccer, using the adjective 上手な上手な to modify the noun "soccer player."

彼女の上手なピアノ演奏に感動しました。 ・Translation: I was moved by her skillful piano performance. ・Explanation: This sentence describes the quality of a piano performance with 上手な上手な. The adjective modifies the noun "piano performance" (ピアノ演奏).

The word 上手 (じょうず) is made up of the kanji 上 (jō), meaning "above," "up," or "superior," and 手 (zu), meaning "hand," or "skill." The combination suggests a superior "hand" or skill, giving the meaning of "skillful" or "good at." The addition of the adjectival suffix な completes the adjective form.