元気

Pattern visualization

Examples

1. お元気ですか。▶ —
   How are you? (Are you well?)
2. 元気な子供たちですね。▶ —
   What energetic children!

Collocations

Mnemonic

元気 genki — 元 (origin) + 気 (vital air): "the energy welling up from the root." One word cradles both the body's grain of health and the mind's grain of spirit. "O-genki desu ka" — to ask after someone is to ask after that root-energy, and "genki ga nai" is the quiet confession that the spring has briefly run dry. Kanji-reading kin: 気 reads Korean 'gi', Mandarin qì.

Quick check

1. "I am well" (response) — natural Japanese?

   • 元気です genki desu (standard response)
   • いいです (= "It is good/OK", different)
   • よかったです (past tense — "It was good")
   • 元気がない (= "I have no energy", wrong sign)