74870
Actually, I want to write an email to a person asking about her current
situation in life, understanding by "situation" if she got married, if she
changed companies, if she's happy, etc. I remember from my study of Japanese
the word 状況, but I don't know if it can be applied here. Searching on
jisho.org, I found this other word 状態, but again, I don't know if it has the
nuance I want to express. So what would be the proper way to ask "how's your
current situation?" in Japanese?

Thanks in advance.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-08T00:12:07.307
74867
2020-03-08T05:29:34.697
2020-03-08T05:29:34.697
17797
34726
question
word-choice usage nuances phrase-requests
What is the difference between the words 状態 and 状況?
For your question,「状況」is the most appropriate word to ask what she has been up
to such as her marriage, her work, her well-being. If you want to ask her not
in a straight way. 「状況」 is used in a broad sense. And in general, it is used
what they are doing in their environment.

If you want to collect the data using survey from some record,「就業状態」 :
"Employment status", 「婚姻状態」: "Marital status", 「健康状態」 : "Health condition" can
be used. The word is used to know more objective information than「状況」. It is
more often used in an official situation.

So,「状態」may put pressure on them to answer for what you want to know since it
sounds requiring yes/no answer in a mechanical manner.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-08T02:26:16.077
74869
2020-03-08T04:46:46.967
2020-03-08T04:46:46.967
34735
34735
74867
answer
We have a word [近況]{きんきょう} for "recent situation". It can be used like this:

> 近況報告 - catch up, update  
>  近況(を)報告する -- to catch up (on one's life)  
>  お互いの近況を報告し合いましょう。 "Let's catch up." (may sound too stiff)  
>  近況を教えて。 "Can you update?" (may sound too direct and impolite, depending on
> who you say it to)

* * *

> So what would the the proper way to ask "how's your current situation?" in
> Japanese?

I think it's more natural to say something like:

> 「今、何してるの？」 What do you do now? (usually asking job/occupation)  
>  「どうしていますか。」「どうしてるの？」 How have you been? / What have you been up to?  
>  「あれから、どうしてるの。」「その後、どうしていますか。」 How have you been doing (after we parted /
> since the last update)?

We don't usually use the word 状態 (condition) or 状況 (circumstance) when asking
other's recent situation.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-08T02:55:17.450
74870
2020-03-08T02:55:17.450
9831
74867
answer