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I want to determine the difference between kana and desuka. I was able to
translate them as "How are you." Thank you.
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2017-03-26T12:12:54.467
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2017-03-27T00:33:12.683
2017-03-26T13:15:14.950
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question
word-choice meaning word-usage
What is the difference between genkikana and genkidesuka?
"Genki desuka" is a polite way of "Genki kana".

"-desuka" is keigo (敬語).
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2017-03-26T14:25:46.670
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2017-03-26T14:25:46.670
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answer
First, [かな](http://jisho.org/word/%E3%81%8B%E3%81%AA) is a sentence-end
particle that means "I wonder ...", "..., right?" or "I hope ...". In other
words, ～かな questions are usually directed **to yourself** , although there can
be a listener.

Asking someone else using かな is common when an adult asks a small kid.

>   * ○○ちゃんはいくつかな？  
>  How old are you, ○○-chan?
>   * ひとり？ パパかママはどこにいるのかな？  
>  Are you alone? Where is your mom or dad?
>

In Japanese, an adult tend to choose words from the viewpoint of the kid. Have
you heard people use ママ/パパ instead of "I", 僕 instead of "you", and such? It's
discussed [here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/25947/5010),
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24867/5010) and
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6410/5010). So these ～かな questions
are said as if the adult were at the kid's viewpoint.

Likewise, saying "元気かな?" directly to someone is acceptable basically only when
you talk to a kid. Additionally, if you are far higher and older than the
listener -- say, if you are 60 and the listener is 20, you might use 元気かな
without offending them.

But it's totally fine to say 元気かな referring to someone who is not present:

>   * 彼とはもう2年会ってない。元気かな。  
>  I haven't seen him for two years. I wonder if he's doing fine.
>
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2017-03-27T00:33:12.683
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2017-03-27T00:33:12.683
2017-04-13T12:43:44.397
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answer