Let’s learn about "못하다”

1. 저 한국말 잘 못해요 : I can’t speak korean very well

2. 저 한국말 능숙하지 않아요 / 저 한국말 능숙하지 못해요 : I'm not fluent in Korean

[other expressions]

- 나 한국말 잘 못한다. (to younger people or friends)

- 나 한국말 잘 못하네. (to younger people or friends)

- 나 한국말 잘 못해. (to younger people or friends)

- 저 한국말 잘 못하네요. (honourific by ‘-요’)

- 저 한국말 잘 못해요. (honourific by ‘-요’)

- 저 한국말 잘 못합니다. (formal; honourific by ‘-ㅂ’)

- 나 한국말 능숙하지 않다. (to younger people or friends)

- 나 한국말 능숙하지 않네. (to younger people or friends)

- 나 한국말 능숙하지 않아. (to younger people or friends)

- 저 한국말 능숙하지 않네요. (honourific by ‘-요’)

- 저 한국말 능숙하지 않아요. (honourific by ‘-요’)

- 저 한국말 능숙하지 않습니다. (formal; more honourific by ‘-스’)

- 나 한국말 능숙하지 못하다. (to younger people or friends)

- 나 한국말 능숙하지 못하네. (to younger people or friends)

- 나 한국말 능숙하지 못해. (to younger people or friends)

- 저 한국말 능숙하지 못하네요. (honourific by ‘-요’)

- 저 한국말 능숙하지 못해요. (honourific by ‘-요’)

- 저 한국말 능숙하지 못합니다. (formal; more honourific by ‘-스’) 

[explanations]

* 나 : I (non-honourific word to younger people or friends)

* 저 : I (honourific word to the elderly)

* -는 : a particle makes 나 / 저 subjective after a word ends in a vowel; this omitted

* 한국 : Korea

* 말 : word

* 한국말 : Korean (language)

* 을 : a particle makes 한국말 objective after a word ends in a consonant; this omitted

* 잘 : well

* 못하다 : (1) [=수준이 떨어지다] inferior (to) (2) [used as a form of "못해도") at least (3) [=잘하지 못하다] be bad[poor] (at), be weak (in); can’t

- 훨씬 못하다 : fall[be] far beneath (in)

- 그녀를 짝사랑하는 남자가 못해도 다섯 명은 될 것이다 : At least five men have a crush on her

- 저는 노래를 못해요 : I'm a terrible singer

* 잘 못하다 : can’t do well

* 능숙 : skill, skillfulness, dexterity, expertness, cleverness, proficiency, adeptness

* 능숙한 : skilled, skillful, expert, proficient, good, clever, dexterous, deft, adroit, adept

* 능숙하다 : verb form of 능숙한

* 능숙하지 : 능숙하(the stem of 능숙하다) + -지(a connection suffix makes a verb negative meaning before a verb means negative nuance)

* 않다 : [Pronunciation: 안타] be not

* 못해 : 못하(the stem of 못하다) + -어(a non-honourific descriptive verb ending suffix)

* 못합니다 : 못하(the stem of 못하다) + -ㅂ니다(an honourific descriptive verb ending suffix by ‘-ㅂ’)

* 않습니다 : 않(the stem of 않다) + -스(a suffix makes a verb more honourific) + -ㅂ니다(an honourific descriptive verb ending suffix by ‘-ㅂ’)

* -지 못하다 = -지 않다 : can’t do

* a verb + -다 / -네 / -아 / -어 : a non-honourific descriptive verb ending suffix

* a verb + -네 / -아 / -어 + -요 : an honourific verb ending suffix

* a verb + -습니다 / -ㅂ니다 : an honourific descriptive verb ending suffix by ‘스’ / ‘-ㅂ’