In English, we often ask our friends, “How are you?”. Response might be, “I am doing well, thanks.” or “Well, I am not doing so well today..”  If we were to apply this for conversation in Japanese, what will be the most appropriate way of asking, “how are you?”?

My best advice to you is, if it’s your close friend, you simply ask

Genki? (元気？げんき？)

Believe it or not, in Japanese, we don’t say this every single time. We would greet each other by saying, good morning (おはようございます。or おはよう。) or hello(こんにちは), and go right into a conversation.

Asking Genki indicates that you might have not seen your friend recently. For example, if you just saw her yesterday, we don’t normally ask, “Genki?” since you know that you just met her yesterday.

However, depending on the closeness or situation, here are some common ways of asking how your friend is doing besides, Genki?

 

Choushi do? (調子どう？ちょうしどう)

Choushi wa do? (調子はどう？ちょうしはどう？)

This is a very casual way of asking how he/she is doing. You would not use this expression to someone older than you or someone you don’t know too well.

 

If the person is older or someone you don’t know too well, then, you can say:

Choushi wa do desuka? (調子はどうですか？ちょうしはどうですか？)

By adding “desuka”,  it will sound much more polite.

 

You could also ask by saying:

Gokigen ikaga? (ご機嫌いがが？ごきげんいかが？) or Gokigen ikagadesuka? (ご機嫌いかがですか？ごきげんいかがですか？)

 

This is probably the literal translation of “How are you?” in Japanese. However , it is not common to use this expression among close friends. It is more appropriate to use this expression with someone who is older or someone who might be in higher social status than you are. This expression has politeness built in for sure.

 

You could also use the expression:

Ogenki desuka? (お元気ですか？おげんきですか？)

This could be another literal translation into Japanese. This expression is mostly used in writing. For example, when you are writing a letter or an email to someone who might be living far away from you, this will be the expression to use. Again, you would not typically use this expression with someone whom you see often on a regular basis.

 

Hope you got an idea on how to use “how are you?” expression in Japanese language!