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JLPT N5Adjectives

元気／病気— Health as Adjective vs Noun

元気 (well/energetic) is a な-adjective; 病気 (illness) is a noun. This changes how each connects to other words.

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Pro lessonUNIT 39 · ADJECTIVES

Structure · 形

[Person] + は + 元気(です／な+Noun) | 病気(です／の+Noun)

Examples · 例文

  • お元気ですか？

    Ogenki desu ka?

    Are you doing well?

    Standard greeting; the お is a politeness prefix on 元気.

  • 病気で学校を休んだ。

    Byouki de gakkou o yasunda.

    I took off school due to illness.

    病気 (noun) + で (cause/reason) + 学校を休む (skip school).

  • 弟は元気な子どもです。

    Otouto wa genki na kodomo desu.

    My little brother is an energetic child.

    元気 (な-adjective) + な + 子ども — な links it to the noun it describes.

Usage notes · 注意

  • Catching a cold: You don't 'have' or 'become' a cold — you 引く (pull) it: 風邪を引く. For the current state use 風邪を引いている (I have a cold).
  • 元気な人 (an energetic person) uses な; 病気の人 (a sick person) uses の because 病気 is a noun.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 元気／病気 is tested against.

vs元気 (な-adjective) vs 病気 (noun)

元気 modifies nouns with な (元気な子); 病気 is a noun so it modifies with の (病気の犬).

vs元気 vs 健康

元気 = lively / in good spirits right now; 健康 = medically healthy (long-term physical health), often used as a noun/な-adjective in formal contexts.

More adjectives

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