When to use each word

Hi,

I've very recently started learning Japanese with a friend, and I've encountered an expression I have some doubts about.

I know the difference between お元気 and 元気 is that the first one is more polite, mainly used when talking to a person you look up to (teacher, boss, etc), and never used when talking about yourself.

My question is, would you also use お元気 when speaking to a person you don't know quite well? i.e. somebody you've just met, or the baker in your local bakery.

Thanks in advance for taking time to read this.

お- is not to show respect to other person itself, but to show respect to some aspect of him/her.

For example 名前 (なまえ, name) you say お名前 (おなまえ) to show your respect to the other's name. Another example: 誕生日 (たんじょうび, birthday), you say お誕生日 (おたんじょうび) to show your respect to the other's birthday.
In both cases, you are not paying respect to the person itself, just to the name, birthday, etc...
Now, because i'm not a expert in japanese, I'm not sure if お元気 would make any sense because in mi oppinion, 元気 is not something that defines a person like his/her name or birthday does, so it is not something that should be told with respect. But anyway, if you are talking about Amaterasu's 元気, then it could be better to use お元気 because 元気 may be a very important thing that defines her, and without that thing, Amaterasu couldn't be defined. It is like we cannot define you without your name.
The same could happen with 仕事 (しごと, job), you can say お仕事 if you think that the other person's 仕事 needs to be paid respect, not necesarrily because the job is very important, and because the job that a person has can define that person to some extent, then it makes sense to use お- here.

So, having that into account, you should use お- if you need to pay respect or politeness to something that belongs to other person and really defines that person. In your case, because you don't know the baker and you both don't have any relationship other than "hello-goodbye" then you should use お元気. instead of 元気, but again, I would use just 元気 since the baker is not absolutelly defined by his/her 元気.

I hope this helps.

I'm afraid you have misunderstood the use of お and are overthinking it. It is primarily a matter of polite/refined speech.

OP: yes, you can use it to anyone. It is never an error to be too polite. The worst thing that will happen is that people will be impressed you're so polite, and that's not a bad thing.

Mike Cash said:

I'm afraid you have misunderstood the use of お and are overthinking it. It is primarily a matter of polite/refined speech.

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Overthinking it? You can't pay the same respect or politeness level to something that is common and mundane that doesn't have any transcendence with something that may be very important for a person. I won't use any specific polite form to say "your gym shoes are great", but I would use a polite speech to say "your family is great". Would you use お- with both, gym shoes and family? I definetely won't.

Sairen said:

Overthinking it? You can't pay the same respect or politeness level to something that is common and mundane that doesn't have any transcendence with something that may be very important for a person. I won't use any specific polite form to say "your gym shoes are great", but I would use a polite speech to say "your family is great". Would you use お- with both, gym shoes and family? I definetely won't.

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You have a complete misunderstanding of the use of お but you are free to do as you please. Yes, depending on the situation I would say お靴 in referring to someone else's gym shoes and there isn't a Japanese person alive who would think it the least bit odd. It has nothing to do with respecting a pair of shoes.

I would hope that you know to use ご with "family" instead of お (ご家族, not お家族).

You can say 素晴らしいお靴をお持ちですね. This is 尊敬語 to show respect for the OWNER of it.

EDIT:
Ooops, Mike-san beats me!