What does “heiki” mean in Japanese?
Japanese people say “heiki” to mean ‘okay’ or ‘no problem’ especially in casual conversations. In this blog post, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. Let’s get started!Contents
- Definition and meanings of “heiki”
- “Heiki” in kanji
- Example #1: how to use “heiki”
- Example #2: another usage of “heiki”
- Repeating twice: heiki, heiki
- Summary
Definition and meanings of “heiki”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “heiki”.- heiki – 平気 (へいき) : a noun meaning ‘calmness’, ‘coolness’, or ‘unmoved mind’ in Japanese. But in reality Japanese people use it like an adjective or just an interjection to mean ‘okay’ or ‘no problem’.
To understand this word more clearly, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.
“Heiki” in kanji
Below are the kanji characters used in “heiki”.- 平 : a kanji character used to mean ‘plain’, ‘flat’, ‘calm’, or such in Japanese. This kanji character can also be found in other words like “heiwa“.
- 気 : a kanji character used to mean ‘mind’, ‘heart’, ‘spirit’, ‘will’, or ‘feeling’ in Japanese. This kanji character can also be found in other words like “honki“, “byouki“, “yaruki“, and “yūki“.
When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “heiki” through the detailed kanji check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “heiki” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to use “heiki”
watashi wa heiki desu – 私は平気です (わたしはへいきです)
I’m okay.
I’m okay.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, it is used after “watashi” to make the subject word in the sentence.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb put after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably it is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, it is put after “heiki” to make it sound polite.
Depending on the situation, even just saying “heiki” is acceptable and understandable. This is why Japanese learners quite often hear this word in real Japanese conversations.
Example #2: another usage of “heiki”
kare wa heiki desu ka – 彼は平気ですか (かれはへいきですか)
Is he okay?
Is he okay?
- kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
- ka – か : a sentence-ending particle used to make a question in Japanese. As its definition suggests, it is put at the end of the example sentence to make the question.
Repeating twice: heiki, heiki
Sometimes Japanese people repeat a word twice to emphasize its meaning. For this reason, they use “heiki” twice in a row especially in casual conversions as follows.heiki heiki – 平気平気 (へいきへいき)
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the word, “heki”, in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained its usages through the examples. Let me summarize them as follows.- heiki – 平気 (へいき) : a noun meaning ‘calmness’, ‘coolness’, or ‘unmoved mind’ in Japanese. But in reality Japanese people use it like an adjective or just an interjection to mean ‘okay’ or ‘no problem’. These two kanji literally mean ‘calm mind’. This is the basic concept lying under the meanings.
- heiki desu – 平気です (へいきです) : a Japanese expression for ‘[someone] is okay’. In casual situations, “desu” can be omitted.
- heki desu ka – 平気ですか (へいきですか) : a Japanese expression for ‘is [someone] okay?’ In casual situations, “desu ka” can be omitted. In this case, the pitch of “heiki” needs to be raised.
- heki heki – 平気平気 (へいきへいき) : the emphasized expression of “heki”, meaning ‘okay. okay’ or ‘no problem. no problem’ in Japanese.
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