Learn how to ask "How are you?"
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Intro |
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| Jessi: Hi everyone, γΈγ§γ·γΌγ§γ (JeshΔ« desu)γJessi here! |
| Motoko: γγγ«γ‘γ―γMotokoγ§γγ (Kon'nichiwa, Motoko desu.) |
| Jessi: How is Everyone Feeling in Japan? |
| Today Today, I'm joined by a new host - Motoko! |
| Motoko: Hi. |
| Jessi: Hi Motoko, thanks for joining us! |
| Motoko: Sure! I'm happy to be here. |
| Jessi: We're happy to have you too!! All right, so in the last lesson, we learned how to ask the time, and tell time! |
| Motoko: Yes, for example, γγΎγͺγγγ§γγ (ima nan-ji desu ka)οΌ What time is it now? and οΌζγ§γ (ichi-ji desu)γ It's one o'clock. |
| Jessi: Yup. And in this lesson, we'll review asking how someone is. |
| Motoko: That's right. What's happening in the conversation? |
| Jessi: This conversation is a continuation from the last lesson, and so Taylor and Kaori are still talking on Skype! It sounds like they're catching up since they haven't talked in a while. |
| Motoko: Okay! Let's listen to the conversation. |
| Dialogue |
| (Skype) |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γγγγ§γγγ |
| Taylor: Genki desu ka. |
| γγγ:γ―γγγγ€γ©γΌγγγ―οΌ |
| Kaori: Hai. TeirΔ-san wa? |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γ―γγγγγγ§γγ |
| Taylor: Hai, genki desu. |
| γγγ:γ‘γγΏγγγ¨γ΅γ©γ‘γγγγγγγγ§γγγ |
| Kaori: Chiemi-san to Sara-chan mo o-genki desu ka. |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γ―γγγγγͺγΌ γγγγγ§γγ |
| Taylor: Hai. MatorΔ« mo-genki desu. |
| Jessi:γLetβs listen to the conversation again slowly. |
| (Skype) |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γγγγ§γγγ |
| Taylor: Genki desu ka. |
| γγγ:γ―γγγγ€γ©γΌγγγ―οΌ |
| Kaori: Hai. TeirΔ-san wa? |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γ―γγγγγγ§γγ |
| Taylor: Hai, genki desu. |
| γγγ:γ‘γγΏγγγ¨γ΅γ©γ‘γγγγγγγγ§γγγ |
| Kaori: Chiemi-san to Sara-chan mo o-genki desu ka. |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γ―γγγγγͺγΌ γγγγγ§γγ |
| Taylor: Hai. MatorΔ« mo-genki desu. |
| Jessi: Now letβs listen to it with the translation. |
| (Skype) |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γγγγ§γγγ |
| TeirΔ: Genki desu ka. |
| Jessi: How are you? |
| γγγ:γ―γγγγ€γ©γΌγγγ―οΌ |
| Kaori: Hai. TeirΔ-san wa? |
| Jessi: I'm fine. How are you, Taylor? |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γ―γγγγγγ§γγ |
| TeirΔ: Hai, genki desu. |
| Jessi: I'm fine, thank you. |
| γγγ:γ‘γγΏγγγ¨γ΅γ©γ‘γγγγγγγγ§γγγ |
| Kaori: Chiemi-san to Sara-chan mo o-genki desu ka. |
| Jessi: Are Chiemi and Sara well too? |
| γγ€γ©γΌ:γ―γγγγγͺγΌ γγγγγ§γγ |
| TeirΔ: Hai. MatorΔ« mo-genki desu. |
| Jessi: Yes. Muttley is well too. |
| Vocabulary and Phrase Usage |
| Jessi: So Taylor and Kaori are still talking on Skype! |
| Motoko: That's right. |
| Jessi: Asking how everyone is... Chiemi, Taylor's wife, and Sara, Taylor and Chiemi's daughter... and even Muttley! |
| Motoko: Everyone, do you remember Muttley? |
| Jessi: If you listened to Season 1, you probably remember him! Muttley is Taylor's dog. |
| Motoko: It's a cute name! γγγͺγΌ. (MatorΔ«.) |
| Jessi: Yes, in Japanese it becomes γγγͺγΌ (MatorΔ«), but it is a cute name, I think! Muttley. |
| Motoko: And it sounds like everyone is fine. Everyone is ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌ(genki)οΌ |
| Jessi: Yup! Everyone is ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌ (genki) - oh, that's our first vocab word, isn't it? |
| Motoko: Yes! ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌ (genki) |
| Jessi: ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌ (genki); energetic, fine or healthy |
| Motoko: In English, you usually say I'm fine, or I'm doing fine, right? |
| Jessi: Yes, when asked How are you? Oh I'm fine. Like that. |
| Motoko: In Japanese, we call that ε ζ°οΌγγγ) (genki). |
| Jessi: ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌ (genki). Yes, we'll go into asking how someone is later on in the lesson, but for now, just know that ε ζ°οΌγγγ) (genki) refers to someone being energetic, healthy, or fine. |
| Motoko: Our next word is γ¨ (to). |
| Jessi: γ¨ (To). This means "and". It comes between two nouns, two things. |
| Motoko: Right. For example, γγ€γ©γΌγ¨γ‘γγΏ (TeirΔ to Chiemi) |
| Jessi: Taylor AND Chiemi |
| Motoko: Or, ζ°΄οΌγΏγοΌγ¨γΈγ₯γΌγΉ (Mizu to jΕ«su) |
| Jessi: "Water and juice." Okay, so here's one for you listeners. How would you say, Japan and America? |
| Motoko: Remember that Japan is ζ₯ζ¬οΌγ«γ»γοΌ (Nihon) and America is γ’γ‘γͺγ« (Amerika). |
| [pause] |
| Jessi: Okay. We would say...? |
| Motoko: ζ₯ζ¬οΌγ«γ»γοΌγ¨γ’γ‘γͺγ«. (Nihon to Amerika.) |
| Jessi: ζ₯ζ¬οΌγ«γ»γοΌ γ¨ γ’γ‘γͺγ«. (Nihon to Amerika.) Japan AND America. Okay! Now let's move onto the lesson focus. |
| Grammar Point |
| Jessi: In this lesson, you'll learn how to ask how someone is. |
| Motoko: γ―γ (Hai), Yes, as in "how are you?" |
| Jessi: As well as "How is so-and-so?" We'll be using the word we just learned earlier - |
| Motoko: ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌ (genki) |
| Jessi: Which translates to fine, healthy, and energetic. So! Let's get right into it. How do you ask someone, how are you? |
| Motoko: ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγοΌ (Genki desu ka?) |
| Jessi: [slowly] ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌ γ§γγοΌ (Genki desu ka?) |
| Motoko: Yes. ε ζ° (Genki) |
| Jessi: fine, energetic |
| Motoko: plus γ§γγ (desu ka). |
| Jessi: ε ζ°γ§γγγ (Genki desu ka.) The literal translation is, Are you fine? Or, Are you well? OK. Listen and repeat. |
| Motoko: γγγγ§γγοΌ (genki desu ka?) |
| Jessi: οΌpause) Great. |
| Motoko: If you want to be more polite, you can add γ (o) to the beginning. γε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (o-genki desu ka)γ |
| Jessi: Right. γ + ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγγγε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγγ (O + genki desu ka. O-genki desu ka.) This sounds slightly more polite. OK. Listen and repeat. |
| Motoko: γε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγοΌ (o-genki desu ka?) |
| Jessi: οΌpause) Sounds good. Now, I want to point out something here... |
| Motoko: What's that...? |
| Jessi: Well, in English-speaking cultures, the question "how are you" is very common, an everyday occurrence, right? |
| Motoko: I think so! You could ask someone "how are you?" everyday! |
| Jessi: Right? Well, in Japanese, ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (genki desu ka), is not used AS often. |
| Motoko: Oh, good point. |
| Jessi: It's mostly used when you haven't seen someone in a while. Kind of like how we might say "How've you been?" in English. |
| Motoko: In the dialogue, Taylor asked Kaori ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (genki desu ka)οΌ Since they hadn't talked in a while. |
| Jessi: So this, ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (genki desu ka) can be used when you are talking directly to someone, to ask how they are. Motoko, what if we want to ask someone about how someone ELSE is doing? |
| Motoko: Here's our pattern. [person]γ―ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ ([person] wa genki desu ka). |
| Jessi: So, [person] followed byγγ―ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (wa genki desu ka) means "How is [person]?" |
| Motoko: Yes, for example, γγγͺγΌγ―ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (MatorΔ« wa genki desu ka)οΌ |
| Jessi: How is Muttley? OK. Repeat after Motoko. |
| Motoko: γγγͺγΌγ―ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγοΌ [MatorΔ« wa genki desu ka?] |
| Jessi: [Pause]. Now, if you want to be a little more polite, you can add β-sanβ after the person's name and add "o-" in front of "genki" |
| Motoko: Right. Such as γ‘γγΏγγγ―γε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (Chiemi-san wa o-genki desu ka)γ |
| Jessi: "How's Chiemi-san? or How's Chiemi?" |
| Jessi: So if someone asks you this ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (genki desu ka) question, how should we respond? |
| Motoko: It's quite simple. Since ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (genki desu ka) is a yes/no question, you say γ―γ (hai) |
| Jessi: yes |
| Motoko: first. Then say ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (genki desu.) |
| Jessi: γ―γγε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γ (Hai, genki desu). Like that? |
| Motoko: Right. γ―γγε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγ (Hai, genki desu.)γ |
| Jessi: So γ―γ (hai) means "Yes" and ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γ (genki desu) means "I'm fine/he's fine/she's fine/they're fine" etc. There's no need to repeat η§οΌγγγ) (Watashi) or the name of the person. |
| Motoko: Right. γ―γγε ζ°γ§γ (Hai, genki desu) is all you need. |
| Jessi: Okay, let's give the listeners a chance to practice. Listeners, Motoko will ask you how you are. Please respond, the answer "I'm fine." Are you ready? |
| Motoko: ε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γγγ (genki desu ka.) |
| [pause] |
| Jessi: Okay. And the correct response is...? |
| Motoko: γ―γγε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γοΌ (Hai, genki desu!) |
| Jessi: Great. Now listeners, it's your turn to ask Motoko. Please ask her how she is. |
| [pause] |
| Motoko: γ―γγε ζ°οΌγγγοΌγ§γοΌ (Hai, genki desu!) |
| Jessi: Okay, sounding good!!! Now, let's look at the line from the dialogue. It's a little longer and more complicated, so let's go through it together. |
| Motoko: Kaori asks - γ‘γγΏγγγ¨γ΅γ©γ‘γγγγγγγγ§γγγ (Chiemi-san to sara-chan mo o-genki desu ka.) |
| Jessi: "Are Chiemi and Sara well, too?" Let's break it down. |
| Motoko: γ‘γγΏγγ (Chiemi-san) (Jessi - Chiemi) γ¨ (to) (Jessi - and) γ΅γ©γ‘γγ (Sara-chan) (Jessi - Sarah γ (mo) (Jessi - also) γγγγγ§γγ (o-genki desu ka) |
| Jessi: βAre they well?β So, she is asking about Chiemi AND Sara, so we have the word γ¨ (to) in between their names. And, instead of γ― (wa), we use γ (mo), which means "also". Can we hear the whole thing one more time? |
| Motoko: Sure. γ‘γγΏγγγ¨γ΅γ©γ‘γγγγγγγγ§γγγ (Chiemi-san to sara-chan mo o-genki desu ka.) |
| Jessi: "Are Chiemi and Sara well, too?" It's long and looks a little complicated, but if you understand the functions of γ¨ (to) and γ (mo) correctly, it's not too bad, right? |
| Motoko: Right. |
Outro |
| Jessi: OK. I think that's going to do it for this lesson. |
| Motoko: Good job, everyone. Thank you for listening! |
| Jessi: Let us know if you have any questions, and see you next time!! |
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