I love learning languages. Linguistics is my life!
But recently I haven’t been able to practice my Russian and German.
So let’s learn how to say “I’m rusty” in Japanese!
First, if you look it up in a dictionary, you get
錆びる sabiru (金 “gold” + 青 “blue“)
But it means “to rust” for “iron / metal“. NOT a person.
E.g
自転車が錆びちゃった。
Jitensha ga sabi-chatta
= My bike got rusty.
はさみが錆びて、使えない。
Hasami ga sabi-te, tsukae-nai
= The scissors is rusty and cannot be used.
Now how do you say “the person is rusty“?
We use the word
” 下手(な) heta-na (= to be poor at)“.
—
For those who don’t know these two words :
上手な jouzu-na or 上手い uma-i = to be skilled /good at ~
E.g
日本語が上手ですね。
Nihon-go ga jouzu desu ne
= Your Japanese is good.
And
下手な heta-na = to be unskillful at ~
E.g
日本語がまだ下手です。
Nihon-go ga mada heta desu
= My Japanese is still bad.
—
Anyways, to express “I’m rusty“,
we say “I became poor / bad at ~“.
⇒ 下手になる heta ni naru
⇒ 下手になった heta ni natta (inf.)
/ 下手になりました heta ni nari-mashita (form.)
*なる = to become
E.g
最近ドイツ語を全然使っていないから、下手になった。
Saikin doitsu-go wo zenzen tsukatte-inai kara, heta ni natta
= I haven’t used German at all recently, so I’m rusty.
日本語が少し下手になりました。もっと練習しなきゃいけませんね。
Nihon-go ga sukoshi heta ni nari-mashita. Motto renshuu shi-nakya ike-masen ne
= I’m a little rusty in Japanese. I must practice more.
久しぶりにカラオケに行ったら、歌が下手になっていた。
Hisashi-buri-ni karaoke ni i-ttara, uta ga heta ni natte-ita
= When I went to the Karaoke for the first time in a long time, I couldn’t sing as well as before. (My singing skill has gone bad.)
There is also another expression :
腕が鈍る うでがにぶる ude ga niburu
” 腕 – ude” means “arm”. But here it means “skill”.
E.g
A: 芸大に行ったんでしょ!わたしの絵を描いてみてよ。
Gei-dai ni itta n desho! Watashi no e wo kaite-mite yo
B: もう何年も描いてないから、腕が鈍ってるよ。
Mou nan-nen mo kaite-(i)nai kara, ude ga nibutte-(i)ru yo
= A: You went to the art college, right! (Try) draw/paint(ing) a picture of me.
B: I haven’t drawn / painted for many years so I’m rusty.
高校時代に野球をしていましたが、今はもう腕が鈍ってしまいました。
Koukou-jidai ni yakyuu wo shite-ima-shita ga, ima wa mou ude ga nibutte-shimai-mashita
= I used to play baseball during my high school years but I’m now rusty.
But “<adj.>+ なる“ is still more common.
E.g
足が遅い ashi ga osoi
= to run slow (lit. Legs are slow)
⇒ 足が遅くなった ashi ga osoKU natta
= now I run slow (lit. Legs became slow)
上手に書ける jouzu-ni kakeru
= can write / draw well
⇒ 上手に書けない jouzu-ni kake-nai
= cannot write / draw well
⇒ 上手に書けなくなった jouzu-ni kake-naKU natta
= I cannot write / draw well now (anymore).
(lit. I became not being able to write well.)
That’s it! If you have any questions, leave a comment :)
To say my Japanese is not good, is this acceptable: Amari nihongo ga jozu ja nai desu?
Sorry for late reply! It’s perfect!! :)