5878
I was just reminded on another site that "being good at something" is
expressed as `[上手]{じょうず}/[上手]{うま}い`, not `いい`. How do you tell someone they
"have gotten better at something"? `Xさん, 料理することがもっと上手いですね。` would be my
thought. Is that right? Would that be the way a native would say it? Is that
even how a textbook would word it?
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2012-06-16T20:32:48.243
5876
2012-06-17T23:15:05.453
2012-06-16T23:03:42.210
769
question
usage adjectives phrase-requests na-adjectives
How do you say "You have gotten better at X"?
The simplest way of saying "you've gotten better" is `上手になりました`. A lot of the
time you hear `ね` after that :)
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2012-06-16T20:58:49.120
5877
2012-06-16T20:58:49.120
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answer
You can use `なる` (to become) to indicate change, as follows:

> うまくなる (い-adjective, い->く)  
>  上手になる (な-adjective + に)

These both mean "to become good/skilled".

Then for "to become more skilled" you can use もっと, さらに or 前より:

> もっと上手になる to become better  
>  さらに上手になる to become even better  
>  前より上手になる to become better than before
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2012-06-16T21:01:08.307
5878
2012-06-17T23:15:05.453
2012-06-17T23:15:05.453
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answer
* `うまい` can be written with the same kanji as `[上]{じょう}[手]{ず}`: `[上手]{うま}い`. 

  * As you have in your English phrase, the natural way to say it in Japanese is to use "have gotten" or "become", which is `なる` in Japanese, as ジョン answers.

  * Alternatively, it is possible to stick with `だ` or `です` as in your answer using `もっと`, but in that case, the standard for comparison is not clear enough without explicit mentioning. It can be taken that you are comparing with someone else. You need to add a phrase like `前より` or `以前より` to indicate that the comparison is along time. Then, you do not necessarily need `もっと` as comparison would be expressed by such phrase.

  * But more importantly, `こと` cannot be used in this combination.

> 料理が(前より(もっと)) {上手だ/上手い/上手になった/上手くなった}  
>  料理するのが(前より(もっと)) {上手だ/上手い/上手になった/上手くなった}  
>  * 料理することが(前より(もっと)) {上手だ/上手い/上手になった/上手くなった}

If you are using `得意` "be good at", then using `こと` is not as bad.

> 料理が得意だ  
>  料理するのが得意だ  
>  料理することが得意だ
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2012-06-16T23:21:23.263
5880
2012-06-16T23:38:53.850
2012-06-16T23:38:53.850
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answer