Can someone explain the use of で in this sentence: 今日も元気で過ごせたらイイよね

Question

I'm having trouble getting the correct translation of the sentence because of the で particle. I don't know if it's being used as a particle or the imperative form of 元気.

Answer 1

The で is a particle. According to 明鏡国語辞典:

で 🈩〘格助詞〙
❹動作を行うときの様態を表す。「急ぎ足で歩く」「親子で出席する」「笑顔で答える」「土足で上がる」

The で expresses 動作を行うときの様態, the manner of an action, how or in what manner an action is done.

In 「元気で過ごす」, 「元気で」 (vigorously, cheerfully, healthily) describes how the action 「過ごす」 (spend the day) is done.

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_{the imperative form of 元気}

_{元気 is a noun or na-adjective, so it has no imperative form, at least in the modern Japanese grammar.}

Answer 2

今日も元気で過ごせたらイイよね

で in the above sentence is used as a particle not as the imperative form of 元気.

"で is a case particle that indicates state or condition of action" in the given sentence, which is made from にて by a euphonic change.
These explanations are written here as:

出典：デジタル大辞泉（小学館）
［格助］《格助詞「にて」の音変化》名詞、名詞的な語に付く。
５ 動作・作用の行われる状態を表す。「みんなで研究する」「笑顔であいさつする」

The given sentence could be written as:

今日も元気な状態で過ごせたらイイよね