110 Talking about physical well being
110.1 Feeling and looking well
(a) Physical well being is usually expressed by means of fühlen or gehen. Fühlen is
used reflexively: sich fühlen, the reflexive pronoun being in the accusative.See^37 (pp. 87–90) for reflexive verbs; and 110.8a (pp. 387–8) for feeling unwell.
To express how well you are feeling, the following adverbs can be used:gut ‘well’
prima ‘splendid’
bestens ‘very well’
gesund ‘healthy’
wohl/wohlauf ‘well’
pudelwohl (lit. ‘as well as a poodle’) ‘feeling on the top of the world’
ausgezeichnet ‘splendid’Bei diesem warmen Wetter fühle ich mich so richtig wohl.
In this warm weather I feel really well.In diesem gemütlichen Ferienhaus mit dem köstlichen Essen und
netter Gesellschaft fühlten wir uns pudelwohl.
We felt on the top of the world in this cosy holiday home with its
splendid food and nice company.Gemütlich, incidentally, is difficult to translate. It is inherent in the German
mentality, and suggests a mixture of cosiness, informality and friendliness.Another way to express well being is jmdm. geht es gut ‘someone is well’.See 110.2 (pp. 381–2) for gehen^ + dat.
Er fühlt sich ausgezeichnet, besser könnte es ihm gar nicht gehen.
He feels great. He couldn’t feel any better.(b) Looking well See 74.3 (pp. 231–2) for ‘Physical appearance and looks’; and 110.8a (pp. 387–8) for
looking unwell.Du siehst gut/gesund/blühend aus.
You look well/healthy/radiant.110.2 Enquiring about someone’s health and responding
To enquire after physical (and general) well being, the question Wie geht es Ihnen?
‘How are you?’ is used.See 60.5 (pp. 162–3) for ‘Enquiring about well being’.
This is usually meant as a real, not a rhetorical, question and requires a true answer.110
Talking about physical well being