How to ask and answer the question "How are you?"
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| Introduction |
| John: Asking How Someone Is. In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask and answer the question “How are you?” in Japanese. |
| Body |
| John: Here's the way to ask "How are you?" in Japanese. It literally means “Are you fine?” |
| Risa: [Normal] 元気ですか。(Genki desu ka.) |
| John: First is a word meaning "fine." |
| Risa: [Normal] 元気 [Slow] 元気 (genki) |
| John: Next is the word meaning "are." |
| Risa: [Normal] です [Slow] です(desu) |
| John: Last is the question particle. |
| Risa: [Normal] か [Slow] か(ka) |
| John: Note the rising intonation. Listen again to the formal question meaning "How are you?" |
| Risa: [Slow] 元気ですか。 [Normal] 元気ですか。 |
| John: Now, imagine you’re speaking to your friend. Here's the informal way to ask "How are you?" |
| Risa: [Normal] 元気?(Genki?) |
| John: This expression has only one word literally meaning "fine." |
| Risa: [Normal] 元気? [Slow] 元気? (genki?) |
| John: Listen again to the informal expression meaning "How are you?" Please note the rising intonation. |
| Risa: [Slow] 元気? [Normal]元気? |
| John: Here's a response meaning "I'm fine. Thank you." or literally "Yes, I'm fine." |
| Risa: [Normal] はい、元気です。(Hai, genki desu.) |
| John: First is a word meaning "yes." |
| Risa: [Normal] はい [Slow] はい (hai) |
| John: Next is the word meaning "fine." |
| Risa: [Normal] 元気 [Slow] 元気(genki) |
| John: Last is the word meaning "am." |
| Risa: [Normal] です [Slow] です(desu) |
| John: Listen again to the response - "Yes, I'm fine." |
| Risa: [Slow] はい、元気です。 [Normal] はい、元気です。 |
| John: Here's a response meaning "not so well" or literally “no, not so well.” |
| Risa: [Normal] いいえ、あまり。(Iie, amari.) |
| John: First is a word meaning "no." |
| Risa: [Normal] いいえ [Slow] いいえ(iie) |
| John: Next is the word meaning "not very." |
| Risa: [Normal] あまり [Slow] あまり(amari) |
| John: Listen again to the response - "Not so well." |
| Risa: [Slow] いいえ、あまり。 [Normal] いいえ、あまり。 |
| Cultural Insight |
| John: Now, it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Risa: To reply to the greeting "How are you?" in Japanese, people sometimes say お蔭様で (O-kage-sama de), especially in a formal situation. It's almost the same as "I'm fine. Thank you." in English. O-kage-sama de means something like "thanks to you." |
Outro |
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| John: And that's all for this lesson. Don't forget to check out the lesson notes, and we'll see you in the next lesson! |
| Risa: またね！(mata ne!) |
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