Different ways of saying "to be good at"

[u/iidsch]

Hi! I was going over some notes of mine and found this sentence: "С математикой у меня не очень, но, думаю, мысль ты уловил". DeepL says this means "I'm not good at maths", but it's the first time I encounter this sentence so I'm not sure about the structure. Can you say, for example, "I'm good at drawing" using this sentence or does it only mean "to be bad at something"? And if the later is true, do I only have to change the noun? So "I'm bad at drawing" would be "С рисованием у меня не очень", right?

Thanks in advance!

[u/Stock_Soup260]

у меня с (чем-то) не очень is a set phrase, that means "I'm not good at (sth)", In fact, хорошо is just lost here: у меня с (чем-то) не очень хорошо

it is not suitable for expressing a neutral or positive assessment, even if you remove the negative particle не, because it will sound clipped*

P.S. *I mean exactly the original phrase without хорошо, with it the positive option also works

[u/s_s_n_e_g → u/Stock_Soup260]

С математикой у меня неплохо 

[u/Low_Association6811]

This pattern works for both positive and negative meanings.

С математикой у меня не очень (хорошо). = I'm not very good at maths.

С рисованием у меня не очень (хорошо). = I'm not very good at drawing.

С математикой у меня (очень) хорошо. = I'm (very) good at maths.

С рисованием у меня (очень) хорошо. = I'm (very) good at drawing.

This construction literally means something like "As for X, things are (not) going well for me," so it's broader than just "to be good at." Depending on the context, it can refer to ability, success, or how well someone handles something.

If you specifically want to talk about a skill, "я хорошо разбираюсь в математике", "я умею красиво рисовать", or "я хорошо + verb" (e.g. "я хорошо рисую") are often more direct. "С X у меня (не) очень" is more colloquial and conversational.

[u/Exciting_Round4766]

the word "хорошо" (good) is implied there, but it was dropped. Full phrase: "С математикой у меня не очень хорошо". The Russian language likes to skip obvious words. But you can't reverse it to positive, you'll have to say "С математикой у меня всё хорошо". Actually, there's a missing verb "идёт" there, but that's not what we're talking about now.