元気(げんき)

Usage: 元気(げんき) covers two things English keeps apart — being in good health and having energy and spirits — and context decides which is meant. Said of someone recovering, it is health; said of a 子供(こども) tearing around the room, it is liveliness.

• 健康(けんこう) is the medical word: it describes the state of the body, and is what a checkup reports. 元気(げんき) describes how someone seems — visibly well, cheerful, full of energy. A person can be 健康(けんこう) but not 元気(げんき) if they are simply low.
• As a noun it names the energy itself: 元気(げんき)がない, 元気(げんき)を出(だ)す.

Forms

• 元気(げんき)な + noun: energetic, lively
• 元気(げんき)だ / 元気(げんき)です: is well (predicate)
• 元気(げんき)に: energetically (adverbial)

Common expressions

• お元気(げんき)ですか: How have you been? Note that this is **not** a daily greeting. It asks after someone you have not seen for a while, so it pairs naturally with 久(ひさ)しぶり and sounds strange said to a colleague every morning.
• 元気(げんき)? / 元気(げんき)だった? : the casual version, between friends.
• 元気(げんき)がない: low, out of sorts, off form
• 元気(げんき)を出(だ)す: cheer up, pull yourself together (元気(げんき)づける is what you do to someone else)
• 元気(げんき)になる: get better, recover

Register: adding お makes it polite. お元気(げんき)で as a parting line means "take care of yourself" and suits a long separation rather than a see-you-tomorrow.