"no good at" or "not good at"

**philipwei** · 05-Aug-2008, 02:14

I'm no good at art, so I was looking for something else to do in my free time.

Can we change "no good" into "not good" in the above sentence? Which is more natural? Thanks.

**lucalita009** · 05-Aug-2008, 05:14

Originally Posted by philipwei

I'm no good at art, so I was looking for something else to do in my free time.

Can we change "no good" into "not good" in the above sentence? Which is more natural? Thanks.

I think "I'm not good at art,..." is more natural.

**Raymott** · 05-Aug-2008, 07:05

Originally Posted by philipwei

I'm no good at art, so I was looking for something else to do in my free time.

Can we change "no good" into "not good" in the above sentence? Which is more natural? Thanks.

"no good" is more colloquial. It means you're hopeless at it.
"not good" is standard. But you could still be low-average at it and be "not good". "no good" always means "bad".

**philipwei** · 05-Aug-2008, 07:48

Thank Raymott. Your explanations are quite clear.

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