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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "how have you been" in Japanese?
元気にしてた?
genki nishiteta?
In Japanese, "how have you been" is 元気にしてた? (genki nishiteta?).
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Pronunciation
Say GEN-ki nish-TEH-ta, with a crisp hard G and the stress landing on that first syllable before the phrase trails off into a soft question tone.
Writing and usage
元気にしてた? is written using kanji. It's a phrase, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.
Example sentence
how have you been
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How to remember 元気にしてた?
Genki is the Pokemon energy word, so picture asking a tired Pikachu 'genki nishiteta?' to check if its battery recovered.
Related words
- good morning おはようございます ohayougozaimasu
- good afternoon こんにちは konnichiha
- good evening こんばんは konbanha
- good night おやすみなさい oyasuminasai
- how is it going 調子はどうだ? choushi hadouda?
- whats up どうしたの? doushitano?
- its nice outside today 今日は外がいいですね konnichiha soto gaiidesune
- the weather is nice 天気はいいですね tenki haiidesune
- what are you doing this weekend 今週末は何をする予定ですか konshuumatsu ha naniwo suru yotei desuka
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 元気にしてた?
How do you pronounce 元気にしてた??
Say GEN-ki nish-TEH-ta, with a crisp hard G and the stress landing on that first syllable before the phrase trails off into a soft question tone.
Is 元気にしてた? formal or casual?
元気にしてた? is a common everyday expression. Context and tone of voice matter more than the words themselves for how formal it sounds.
How is 元気にしてた? written in Japanese?
元気にしてた? is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as genki nishiteta?.
Where can I practice Japanese words for free?
You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"How have you been" in other languages
Curated by Jack Ratcliffe
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