拙い vs. 下手: Which is Used in Business Situations?

拙つたない vs. 下手へた: Which is Used in Business Situations?

What is the difference between “拙つたない and 下手へた“? Which is Used in Business Situations? After reading this, you would be answering this question. Let me introduce what their subtle differences are and how you correctly use them such as native speakers today!

拙つたない (tsutanai) / 下手へた (heta)

Bad/Be not good at, Poor, etc / 笨拙/不擅长 / 서투른/잘 못하는 / Vụng về/kém cỏi

Both “拙つたない and 下手へた” mean “Bad, Be not good at, Poor, etc” which have been used as the meaning of “Less competent or skillful at”. “拙つたない” is “Kenjougo” of “下手へた” and “Kenjougo” is a humble way of speaking in which you humble yourself or lower your rank below the person you’re speaking to that is used in business situations. The basic way to use them is that “拙つたない” is an adjective and “拙つたない___(noun)” or “___(noun)は/が拙つたない”. For instance, “拙つたない説明せつめい(lack of explanation)”, “拙つたない文章ぶんしょう(bad sentence)”, “日本語にほんごが拙つたない(Someone’s Japanese is poor)”, etc. And “下手へた” is an adjective or a noun and “下手へたな___” or “___(noun)は/が下手へた“. For instance, “下手へたな説明せつめい(lack of explanation)”, “下手へたな文章ぶんしょう(bad sentence)”, “日本語にほんごが下手へた(Someone’s Japanese is poor)”, etc. Again “拙つたない” is “Kenjougo”, so which is used in business situations, especially speech, talking to your boss or people who you think higher skill than you.

Example

拙つたない説明せつめいでごめんなさい。 (I’m sorry I didn’t explain it clearly enough.) (对于我笨拙的说明，我表示很抱歉。) (서툰 설명이라 미안해요.) (Xin lỗi vì lời giải thích vụng về của tôi.)

拙つたない日本語にほんごなのに一生懸命聞いっしょうけんめいきいてくれてありがとうございました！ (Thank you for listening patiently in spite of my poor Japanese!) (我的日语真不怎么样，非常感谢你认真地听完。) (서툰 일본어인데 열심히 들어주셔서 감사합니다!) (Xin cảm ơn các bạn đã cố gắng lắng nghe dù tiếng Nhật của tôi còn vụng.)

拙つたない文章ぶんしょうですみません。 (I’m sorry that my sentence is so bad.) (写了这篇拙劣的文章，真是不好意思。) (서툰 문장이라 죄송합니다.) (Xin lỗi vì lời văn vụng về.)

まだ日本語にほんごは拙つたないですが、聞きいてください。 (My Japanese is still bad, but please listen.) (虽然我的日语还不是很好，但请听我说。) (아직 일본어가 서툴지만, 들어주세요.) (Tuy tiếng Nhật của tôi còn vụng về nhưng xin hãy lắng nghe.)

下手へたな説明せつめいでごめんね。 (Sorry I didn’t explain it clearly enough.) (对不起，我说明的不是很好。) (설명을 잘 못해서 미안해.) (Xin lỗi vì lời giải thích kém cỏi.)

下手へたな日本語にほんごなのに一生懸命聞いっしょうけんめいきいてくれてありがとう！ (Thanks for listening patiently in spite of my poor Japanese!) (我的日语讲得不大好，谢谢你认真地听完。) (일본어를 잘 못하는데 열심히 들어주어서 고마워!) (Cảm ơn bạn đã cố gắng lắng nghe dù tiếng Nhật của tôi còn kém.)