起きてる？
okiteru?
In Japanese, "are you awake?" is expressed as 起きてる？ (okiteru?)
The phrase is used to ask if someone is currently awake or has woken up. It is a common way to check if someone is still up to talk, particularly when sending text messages on apps like LINE late at night.
Which one should you use?
While 起きてる？ is a casual way to ask the question, you can also use the phrase 寝てない？, which literally means "not sleeping?", as an informal way to check if someone is awake. For more formal contexts, you can use お目覚めですか？ or ご起床ですか?
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The default form 起きてる？ is informal and should be used with friends, family or people of equal or lower social status. For a polite version, use 起きていますか？ Highly formal options include お目覚めですか? and ご起床ですか?
How does it change in a sentence?
In casual speech, the particle i in the continuous form te iru is often dropped, which is why 起きてる is used instead of the full grammatical form.
How do you pronounce it?
okiteru?
Did you know?
- In Japanese, the word 起きる (okiru) can mean both 'to wake up' and 'to physically stand up' or 'rise'. This can lead to confusion if someone asks 起きてる？ while you are awake but still lying in bed.
- While 'awake' is the focus, Japanese culture often prefers the negative inquiry 寝てない？ (Are you not sleeping?) because it is considered more indirect and polite to ask about the absence of an action than to confront a state directly.
- The word 起床 (kishō) used in ご起床ですか？ is a Sino-Japanese word. While okiru is a native Japanese word used in daily life, kishō is formal terminology often seen in written schedules or hotel documents.
Examples in context
- まだ起きてる？mada okiteru?Are you still awake?
- 今、起きてる？ima, okiteru?Are you awake now?
Example conversation
Hiroto calls Misaki late at night.
- 大翔 Hiroto美咲、起きてる？Misaki, okiteru?Misaki, are you awake?
- 美咲 Misakiうん、起きてるよ。un, okiteru yo.Yeah, I'm awake.
- 大翔 Hirotoちょっと話せる？chotto hanaseru?Can you talk for a bit?
- 美咲 Misakiいいよ、どうしたの？ii yo, doushita no?Sure, what's up?
