のが上手 / 下手— Being Good/Bad at Doing

• 田中さんは歌うのが上手です。

  Tanaka-san wa utau no ga jouzu desu.

  Tanaka is good at singing.

  田中さんは (Tanaka) + 歌う (sing) + の (nominalizer) + が上手 (good at) + です

• 私は泳ぐのが下手です。

  Watashi wa oyogu no ga heta desu.

  I am bad at swimming.

  私は (I) + 泳ぐ (swim) + の + が下手 (bad at) + です

• 妹は絵をかくのが上手です。

  Imouto wa e o kaku no ga jouzu desu.

  My little sister is good at drawing pictures.

  絵をかく (draw pictures) + の (nominalizer) + が上手 (good at) + です

• ・Cultural humility: don't use 上手 about your own ability — it sounds boastful. For yourself, use 得意 (good/confident at) and 苦手 (weak at) instead of the blunt 下手.
• ・Skill nouns: you can drop 'verb + の' when the noun already implies the skill: 日本語が上手です (good at Japanese).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones のが上手 is tested against.

• 好き / 嫌い — Like and Dislike
• のが好き — Liking to Do Actions