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Japan flagTakuya
How would you say this? Hi there, I'd like to know how to say "I used to be better but now I suck at this" in another way. Some examples that I can think of are as follows. It'd be appreciated if somebody could give me other examples or check mine to see if they don't sound natural or they may mean different from what I wanted to say. + I got rusty with this. + I became horrible at this + I lost the hang of it Thanks, Takuya

Answers · 10

2
"I lost the hang of it" is best. It is most natural-sounding, and it captures the idea of having once been good but now you are no longer so good. "I became horrible at this" is OK, but sounds a little strange to me (I can't quite say why). "I got rusty with this" is OK, but would be a little better as "I got rusty at this." Other possibilities: "I'm not what I used to be (when it comes to this)". "My skills have really declined/eroded." "I'm past my peak" (if the reason you now suck is that you are getting older).
1
Your first and third ideas sound the most natural. The way I would say it would be "I've become rusty at this." However, the third of your suggestions is also very common. The middle one is technically correct; however, it would only generally be used if someone had become very bad at a skill they used to have. Not something that would never come up, it's just something that would be less common.
1
'I'm a bit rusty' or 'I lost the hang of it' are probably the most popular. John had some other good ideas as well. 'I became horrible at this' is not something a native would say!

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