7

Lets say you ask someone 元気, and they reply 元気, but their facial expression and body language says somethings wrong. In this scenario what would the Japanese equivalent be to asking "Are you sure?" or "Is something bothering you?"?

Also, someone told me Japanese speakers would respond in a less contextually generic way to things like this, with things like physical injury, romantic injury, etc. getting a different response. Is this true? And if so, could someone elaborate on it for me?

2
  • 2
    Depending on who you're saying this to, I think 本当にいい/よろしい/大丈夫(etc.)ですか is a good option.
    – Kurausukun
    Feb 13, 2017 at 23:53
  • 1
    Japanese equivalent would be to not say anything like that, which in many cases would be considered intrusive. If they had wanted to tell you something, they would have.
    – user3526
    Feb 14, 2017 at 14:22

2 Answers 2

9

In this scenario what would the Japanese equivalent be to asking "Are you sure?" or "Is something bothering you?"?

I would say:

「ホントに?」 (Are you sure? / Really?)
「ホントに大丈夫?」 (Are you sure you're okay?)
「どうかしたの?」 (Is something bothering you? / Is there something wrong?)
「どうしたの?」 (What's wrong?)


Japanese speakers would respond in a less contextually generic way to things like this, with things like physical injury, romantic injury, etc. getting a different response. Is this true?

I would respond the same way (like 「ホントに(大丈夫)?」「どう(か)したの?」 ) in either situation.

4

Accordint to your situaion.

A: 元気? How are you?
B: 元気(だよ)! I'm fine!
But A feels B looks like having blues.

I'm not sure but in this situation, can A ask B "Are you sure?" ? in English. If B is down on the floor saying "I'm fine!", I'll ask B "Are you sure?"

If B just looks having blues saying "I'm fine!", I'd like to say "Really but you looks out of sprits," "そう?本当に元気?元気じゃないみたいに見えるけど・・・"

If B is your intimate friend, B tells the full story, but if you are just one of acquaintances, B don't want to tell much. I think it doesn't depend on the nationality.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .