I'm a good swimmer

would probably be your most idiomatic version

Thanks.

But would it be correct to say "I can swim well" ?? I think it's wrong, isn't it?

Mag korrekt sein, klingt aber in meinen deutschen Ohren merkwürdig ;-)

"I can swim well." is fine and correct.

I'd be likely to say this: I swim very well.

You might say that, cryme, but then again, you're known for being somewhat "unorthodox" (for lack of a better word) on this forum.

A competition swimmer might say "I swam well in this meet, but I only came in third" or something like that. Most people would probably say "I'm a (very) good swimmer."

"I am good at swimming." or dude's version.
A very idiomatic English version might be:
I'm not half bad at swimming"

Für mich ist 'I'm a good swimmer' ohne Kontext, der etwas anderes indiziert, die einzige idiomatische Übersetzung.

A: What types of activities can you do well?
B: I can swim well.

Jakordia merely asked (twice) whether "I can swim well." is correct, presumably wondering whether "well" can be translated in some way for "gut". It is correct and you can. Nothing more, nothing less.

No, you can't, cryme. It sounds more like Martian than good English.

'I am a good swimmer' is far and away (by at least four Olympic pool lengths) the most idiomatic.

@6: I've come across the phrase "not half bad", meaning good, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone use it in conversation. Is it perhaps antiquated, or restricted to certain social groups (e.g. ex-public school men? - that's purely a guess) ?

I also think "I'm a good swimmer" is the most idiomatic translation for #0.

Right, I'm a good swimmer is the best basic translation, but it also has to be said that there really is nothing wrong with I can swim well or do anything else well for that matter.

Agree with Bob.

So under what circumstances or in what type of situation would a native English speaker such as yourselves say "I can swim well"?

Sorry for asking, but that phrase, all by its lonesome, just sounds odd to my admittedly non-English-native ears.

Ich habe gerade Besuch von zwei Amerikanern. Die finden absolut gar nichts verkehrt an Crymes Vorschlag.

that phrase, all by its lonesome, just sounds odd to my admittedly non-English-native ears

That phrase, all by its lonesome, sounds distinctly odd to my English-native ears. I wonder whether that's the case whenever there is a specific term for the person doing it:

I am a good (horse-)rider, not I can ride well.
I am a good sprinter, not I can sprint well.
I am a good typist, not I can type well.

Are you good at sports?" "I can swim well. And enjoy biking." e.g. sounds OK to me, just not so idiomatic as "I'm a good swimmer."

Well, I would still have said:

"I am a good simmer, and I enjoy biking"

:)

Nice slip there. ;-)

I have no problems with "I can swim well" either. But it's probably much less common than the noun version.

I concur with John in #16. Sure, the verbal phrases are possible and grammatically correct, but I don't think I'd ever say
She dances well
He sings well
He drives well
etc.

and if I heard someone say it that way, I would certainly take notice.

Q: Do you enjoy swimming?
A: Not really. I can swim well, but to be honest I don't really enjoy it. I'd rather go jogging.

Add a pretty, and I can imagine it something like this:

Well, I can swim pretty well, but that undertow was so strong I had a hard time getting back to the beach.

I'd still say "I'm a pretty good swimmer ..."

I can imagine someone "swimming well" in a competition, though (as in #5), or some similar scenario.

Edit: I didn't see Bennett's post, where I'd also say "I'm a good swimmer" instead.

You post well, dude. ;-)

Yes, that's fine, Bennet, but here it is about the simple phrase "I can swim/dance/etc. well" without any further attributes.

I think a point can be made for there sometimes being a difference in meaning between (or use of) "She's a good dancer" and "She dances well" (on its own).

The former can have a broader scope, possibly; the latter can indicate that what she does when she dances, which might be fairly rudimentary, looks good, etc.

Oops, I just noticed: cryme made a funny in #24.

Yes, adding 'pretty' improves it a tad; and similarly, qualifying it as in 'She dances well for someone with a wooden leg'.

BUT, I would still say 'She is a good dancer for someone with a wooden leg'.

So the real question is: Is this about grammar or typical usage? My daughters bring home a lot of English tests from school with sentences I would never say, but are grammatically perfect. So are they wrong? No. Weird? Oh yeah. Just because dude, John (or even I) isn't (aren't) likely to say it, doesn't mean it's wrong or wouldn't be used in a context the combined power of our creative minds can't come up with right now.

@Selkie: in my very first post (#1) I said "your most idiomatic version." No one here is arguing that it's wrong, grammatically or otherwise. This is all about what's (most) idiomatic - or, conversely, not so idiomatic.

Exactly, Dude.

Yeah, I read all that. But given the continued emphasis on the fact that "I can swim well" would never be said in any context, I felt it worth saying again that it is fine. And perhaps used in some contexts not mentioned here.

Obviously cryme and a few other people would use it. I probably wouldn't, but I'm certainly not the standard by which to measure the English language. :-)

How true! :-)

And you're a regular riot, Bennett. :-)

Just pulling your leg darling! :-/

What possible comeback do I have for that that's not sexual or obscene? None, really. :-)

So I'll just leave it at that.

Well, well, well. A deep subject.

(We better stop before we cause this thread to be deleted for irrelevancy.)

Can't resist a final riposte . .

Hecuba @6 says: I've come across the phrase "not half bad", meaning good, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone use it in conversation. Is it perhaps antiquated, or restricted to certain social groups (e.g. ex-public school men? - that's purely a guess) ?

You're right, sounds a bit antiquated. Possibly public school, certainly also Cockney.
A a few years ago there was a television comedy series called "It ain't half hot mum" about British soldiers in a hot climate.

Quite a few years ago :)

Windsor Davies was the Sgt. Major.

I don't think the phrase is antiquated at all. It's very colloquial in certain groups.

Not half bad is quite familiar to me, too, though I could not tell you where I last heard or read it.

(Accidental double posting.)

My best friend had six toes and turned out a mean swimmer. He was eaten by a shark eventually.

Müsste auch gehen.

@ 40, 41, poss. 42:

I was talking (#10) about 'not half bad' meaning 'good'. That's how Peter was using it in #6.

'Not half hot' is different: it doesn't turn the adjective into its opposite, but intensifies it - 'not half hot' means 'very hot'. Of course this usage is very common, e.g.:

They weren't half glad to see us = they were very glad.

'So is he keen to come?' - 'Not half!' = Very keen.

Not sure why you are listing #41. I am perfectly aware of this :)

Neither form is antiquated at all.

The phrase 'not half bad' per see is not hard so often as is he use of NEGATIVE + CONTRACTION plus half bad, which, as you rightly say, is far from antiquated and common across the British social spectrum. 'It wasn't half cold' - my dad wasn't half angry when I failed my exams - numerous current examples.

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