のが下手|のがへた

1. 1To be bad at or unskilled in performing an activity.Ex. 1
2. 2To be poor at a particular mental or social task, such as remembering things.Ex. 2

A neutral way to state a lack of skill at an activity, common when describing yourself modestly or talking about someone's abilities. It is the direct opposite of のが上手. 苦手 is similar, but it also suggests the activity feels difficult or uncomfortable, while 下手 focuses on poor results.

• のが上手N5「のが上手」is the opposite, meaning to be good at something, with the same conjugation; the two cannot be swapped. 「のが上手」is mostly used to praise others—using it about yourself sounds like bragging, so 「のが得意」is generally used instead when talking about your own strengths.
• ことができるN4「ことができる」is about whether you can do something or whether the situation allows it, while 「のが下手」evaluates skill level—being able to do it but not well. 「ことができない」means "cannot do it," which is not the same as 「のが下手」, so they cannot be swapped.
• のが好きN5「のが好き」expresses liking to do something and says nothing about skill level, while 「のが下手」only evaluates poor skill. Both attach 「のが」after a verb and cannot be swapped, but they can be used together, as in 「料理をするのが好きだが、下手だ」.
• にくいN4「にくい」attaches to the masu-stem and indicates that the nature of the object or external conditions make the action difficult, or that a phenomenon rarely occurs (e.g., 「壊れにくい」); 「のが下手」attaches to the dictionary form and evaluates a person's poor skill. They generally cannot be swapped.

のが上手 is the exact opposite (being good at doing something), and のが好き expresses liking rather than skill. ことができる is about whether an action is possible at all, not how well it is done. にくい attaches to the verb stem and says an action is hard to do, not that a person lacks skill.