Why would feeling better decrease your energy? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Chinese medicine is tied to the philosophy of yin and yang —how energy can be either positive or negative—and how maintaining a balance between the two is essential for good health. Decreasing your negative energy or sickness would naturally make you better. If you're having trouble keeping all this straight, you're not alone. In those days, folks were navigating four different forms of genki, sometimes interchangeably.
But, usage gradually shifted. By the Meiji period — , only one genki remained—the one we use today, and it incorporates ideas from all four original forms. The "decrease energy" and "test energy" meanings got simplified, becoming "healthy" and "vigor. When people hear "genki" today, they mostly think of positive energy, which includes things like courage, power, strength, pep, cheerfulness, and so on. We're going to go through the main ways to use genki, though, starting with genki as a state of being.
From there, we'll imagine genki to be a living, breathing thing a thing that you can do stuff to. And finally, we'll look at doing things "genki-ly," as it were.
Depending on your level of Japanese, some concepts will be very easy. They are basic. Other parts of your genki education may require a little more Japanese knowledge. In the end, though, you will have a much better understanding of genki no matter your level. At the very least, maybe we can get you to stop saying "o genki desu ka? Despite the fact that this pattern is taught almost universally in every classroom, it's actually not all that common for a Japanese person to utter these exact words.
It's similar to English, actually. Like when you meet your definitely human friend and greet them with "Hello, how are you? Still, this pattern is a great jumping off point for your genki education. It's a solid piece of knowledge you have in this abstract, nebulous cloud that is the meaning of genki. You're going to work off of it to get to more difficult—and useful—stuff.
One sounds like a question, the other a statement. It just so happens in this case that I am genki and all that it embodies. But if I can be genki, I can also not be genki. I'm just providing them to show levels of formality, and because there is inconsistency in what negative-noun patterns get taught first in Japanese classrooms. Now, if you can not be genki, you can also have been genki in the past.
Or not! As in "How have you been? It's essentially the same thing in English, I think, so it shouldn't be too hard to get your mind around. Instead, you would typically be specific about what's bringing you down, saying something like, "I'm a bit tired today. If you think about it, most people do the same thing in English. It feels weird when someone answers "I'm not well" and then leaves it at that. In fact, instead of doing that, people tend to just lie and say "I'm good," even when they're not.
It's basically the same in Japanese, too. I've written example sentences of various ways you—or somebody else—can be genki. There's a reason for that, and it's not a good one: genki refers to both physical and mental states. Assuming you read about genki's history and etymology, you know why. But what if you want to specify that your genki is physical? Or mental? Let's start with this incredibly unhelpful example sentence:.
When a Japanese person sees this, though, they would automatically assume it means "I'm physically genki, but not mentally genki. Unfortunately, this is just one of those "that's the way it is" language rules. So, when you want to say your physical genki isn't doing well, but your mental genki is, you need to drop the genki and get specific.
In this case we are specifying that our physical ailment is a fever, but we're still mentally genki. Even though this is the case, I still recommend you rest.
It's a good "physical genki" replacement. In this case, we are not sick, but also not mentally genki. As you can see, there's a lot of variety! When it's important to specify that your genki-ness is physical, you can do so with the above words and examples. I think these should cover most situations. It's possible to not be genki, of course. But, some people are genki, too. That means there's a way to become genki!
Although I can't tell you how to get there, I can tell you how to talk about it in Japanese. When you become genki, you go from a state without pep to a state with pep.
You become happy. You become energetic. You become healthy. You know the drill. Genki has a lot of different meanings, so it could really be a lot of things. Use those context clues! Notes: It seems like someone wasn't feeling well before. Maybe they were lightheaded, sick, or depressed.
But now they're better. They became genki. Notes: It's hard to tell whether this is about physical or mental genki. My feeling is physical, but it could be either. Once again, if this were a real conversation, we could figure it out from context.
Notes: It sounds like someone can't control when they become genki again, which makes me think they're referring to an illness or injury. Or perhaps a devastating event like the death of a loved one. They want to become genki again from their current state of not being genki. It's not clear which, but I bet if you were there, you could figure it out with the power of context. Notes: Clearly, this one is about mental genki.
It's about a song that will let you become genki. If you can be genki, you can describe something as a genki thing. Term » Definition. Word in Definition. Freebase 0. Alex US English. David US English. Mark US English. Daniel British. Libby British. Mia British. Karen Australian. Hayley Australian. Natasha Australian. Veena Indian. Priya Indian.
You should use this phrase whenever you are talking to strangers , seniors , or higher-ups. If you want to give a positive but more nuanced reply you can use any of the responses down below:. In case you are not feeling well you can use one of the following replies. It is also common to ask back how the other person is doing.
Sakura-chan wa? And you Sakura? Genki desu. Sensei wa? And you teacher? Women usually use the first when asking men, while men use the latter one when asking women. However, only use those phrases when you are on a first-name basis. I'm Alex. I have started studying Japanese when I was still a high school student and I have been living and working in Japan since
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