ワクワクしてる？
wakuwaku shiteru?
The English phrase "are you excited?" is translated into Japanese as ワクワクしてる？ (wakuwaku shiteru?)
This phrase is used to ask if someone is feeling eager or impatient anticipation for something. You can use ワクワクしてる？ to express a sense of lively excitement, or ドキドキしてる？ if you are specifically asking if someone's heart is racing due to that excitement. Another way to express this feeling of looking forward to something is to use 楽しみにしてる？
Which one should you use?
楽しみ？ is an informal way to ask "Are you excited?" by dropping the formal ending. You can also use めっちゃワクワクしてる？ by adding めっちゃ to intensify the excitement.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The default form ワクワクしてる？ is informal and should be used with friends, peers or family rather than with superiors. In formal situations, use 楽しみですか？ to ask if someone is excited or ドキドキしていますか？ to ask if their heart is racing from excitement. For a polite but standard way to ask the question, you can use ワクワクしていますか？
How does it change in a sentence?
The polite form of the phrase is ワクワクしていますか？
How do you pronounce it?
wakuwaku shiteru?
Did you know?
- In Japanese, many words for emotions are built from 'giseigo' or 'gitaigo', which are words that mimic the way things move or feel. ワクワク belongs to the category of 'gitaigo', or words that mimic states or conditions.
- While ドキドキ describes a racing heart for excitement, it is also the primary word used to describe the feeling of being nervous or terrified.
- The intensifier めっちゃ used in めっちゃワクワクしてる？ originated from the Kansai dialect in Osaka. While once considered very casual or regional, it is now widely used by young people across all of Japan.
Examples in context
- 旅行の前は、いつもワクワクしてる？Ryoko no mae wa, itsumo wakuwaku shiteru?Are you always excited before a trip?
- 新しいゲーム、ワクワクしてる？Atarashii gemu, wakuwaku shiteru?Are you excited about the new game?
Example conversation
Hiyori and Yota are talking about a concert they are attending tomorrow.
- 陽葵 Himari明日はいよいよコンサートだね。陽太、ワクワクしてる？Ashita wa iyoyo konsāto dane. Yota, wakuwaku shiteru?The concert is finally tomorrow. Yota, are you excited?
- 陽太 Yotaうん、すごくワクワクしてるよ！Un, sugoku wakuwaku shiteru yo!Yeah, I'm really excited!
- 陽葵 Himari私も！楽しみすぎて眠れないかも。Watashi mo! Tanoshimi sugite nemurenai kamo.Me too! I might be too excited to sleep.
- 陽太 Yotaゆっくり寝て、明日元気に行こう。Yukkuri nete, ashita genki ni ikō.Get some good sleep and let's go with lots of energy tomorrow.
