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kazokuzenin de genki ni supootu wo simasu.

家族かぞく全員ぜにん　で　元気げんき　に　スポーツ　を　します。kazokuzenin de genki ni supootu wo simasu.
Our whole family does sports energetically.
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Questions & Answers about kazokuzenin de genki ni supootu wo simasu.

What does the particle で do after 家族全員? Why isn’t it が or は?

で after a group word (like 家族全員, 三人, 友だち) often means “as a group / together / as X”.

  • 家族全員でスポーツをします。
    → We (as the whole family) do sports (together).

If you used:

  • 家族全員がスポーツをします。
    → Grammatically okay, but it just states who does sports (the whole family), without the extra nuance of together as a unit.

So:

  • Xで (with people) = “as X / in a group of X / together as X”
  • Xが = “X is the subject (the one who does it)”

In this sentence, で emphasizes doing it as a family group.

What is the role of に in 元気に? Why not just 元気?

元気 is a na-adjective. To use a na-adjective as an adverb (like “energetically”, “cheerfully”), you usually add に:

  • 元気（な）人 → “a healthy/cheerful person” (adjective use)
  • 元気にスポーツをします → “do sports energetically” (adverb use)

So here:

  • 元気に = “in a lively/energetic way”, modifying スポーツをします.

If you said only 元気スポーツをします, it would sound wrong; you need に to make it an adverb.

Why is there no particle between 家族 and 全員? Is 家族全員 one word?

家族全員 is a noun phrase where 全員 (“all members”) directly modifies 家族 (“family”), and together they mean “the whole family (all members of the family)”.

Japanese very often stacks nouns like this without particles:

  • 日本人全員 – all Japanese people
  • 学生全員 – all the students

So 家族全員 acts as one unit meaning “the entire family.”
You don’t need a particle between 家族 and 全員.

What’s the difference between 家族全員で and 家族みんなで?

Both can mean “with the whole family / all the family members together”, but there is a nuance:

  • 家族全員で

    • Slightly more formal / neutral.
    • Focuses a bit on the idea of all members (no one left out).

  • 家族みんなで

    • More casual / conversational.
    • みんな = “everyone”, “all of us” and feels friendlier.

In many everyday contexts, they’re interchangeable:

  • 家族全員で旅行します。
  • 家族みんなで旅行します。

Both: “We go on a trip as a whole family.”

Why is スポーツ followed by を and then します? Is スポーツする a verb?

Yes, スポーツをする is a common “noun + を + する” pattern:

  • スポーツをする – to do sports
  • 勉強をする – to study
  • 買い物をする – to do shopping

Here, スポーツ is a noun, を marks it as the object, and します is the polite form of する (“to do”):

  • スポーツをします。 = “(I/we) do sports.”

You can also say:

  • スポーツする。 (plain)
  • スポーツをする。 (plain, with を)

In conversation, スポーツする and スポーツをする are both fine; adding を is a bit clearer/standard.

Where is the subject “we” or “my family” in this Japanese sentence?

It’s not explicitly stated. Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context.

In:

  • 家族全員で元気にスポーツをします。

the structure is:

  • 家族全員で – “as the whole family / with the whole family”
  • 元気に – energetically
  • スポーツをします – do sports

The implied subject is usually 私たちは (“we”) or “our family” depending on context.
A more “fully spelled-out” English-style version would be:

  • （私たちは）家族全員で元気にスポーツをします。
    → “We, as the whole family, energetically do sports.”

But Japanese leaves 私たちは out because it’s obvious.

Can I leave out 元気に? How does the meaning change?

Yes:

  • 家族全員でスポーツをします。

is perfectly natural and means “Our whole family does sports (together).”

Adding 元気に adds the nuance of how they do sports:

  • 家族全員でスポーツをします。
    → Just states the action: the family does sports together.

  • 家族全員で元気にスポーツをします。
    → Emphasizes that they do it lively / energetically / cheerfully.

So 元気に is optional but adds coloring to the sentence.

Could the word order change, like 元気に家族全員でスポーツをします? Is that okay?

Yes, Japanese word order is relatively flexible before the verb. All of these are grammatically possible:

  • 家族全員で元気にスポーツをします。
  • 元気に家族全員でスポーツをします。

However:

  • 家族全員で元気にスポーツをします。

sounds the most natural and neutral. Starting with 元気に is not wrong, but it slightly shifts focus to “energetically” first, which is stylistic.

Key point: the verb at the end is the main requirement; the modifiers before it are movable, but some orders are more natural than others.

What exactly does 全員 mean, and how is it different from 全部 or 全部の家族?

全員 literally means “all members (of a group of people)”.

  • 全 – all
  • 員 – member

So:

  • 家族全員 = “all members of the family” → “the whole family”

全部 means “all / everything” and is more general, not specifically “people”:

  • 全部食べました。 – I ate it all.
  • 全部の本 – all the books.

You wouldn’t normally say:

  • ✗ 全部の家族でスポーツをします。

Instead, you use either:

  • 家族全員でスポーツをします。 (all family members)
  • 家族みんなでスポーツをします。

For people in a group, 全員 (or みんな) is natural; 全部 is for “all things / all of something” in general.

What tense is します here? Does it mean “do”, “will do”, or “usually do”?

します is the polite non-past form of する. In Japanese, non-past covers present, habitual, and future, so the exact English tense depends on context.

This sentence can mean, for example:

  • “Our whole family does sports (in general).” (habitual)
  • “Our whole family will do sports (e.g. tomorrow, when we go to the park).” (future)

If there is no time word like きょう (today) or あした (tomorrow), it’s often understood as a habit:

  • “Our whole family regularly / generally does sports energetically.”