How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?" and other similar questions. How to answer the trendy question “What’s up? What to answer to how are you

Today we will talk about different ways to ask "How are you?" in English. The English language has a large number of such phrases. Today we will study the most commonly used of them.

How to ask "How are you?" in English

How are you? How do you? The most used, common phrase in English.

How are you doing? How are you doing?

How is it going? How are you? Used with people you already know quite well.

What's going on? - What's going on here?

What's happening? What's going on? Similar to the phrase "What; s going on?".

How have you been? How are you? In this question, it is understood how your affairs were until we communicated with you.

What have you been up to? What did you do? In the question, we ask what the person was doing while we did not see him. To be up to (phrasal verb) - to start, intend.

Are you well? Are you okay?

What "s up? How are you? Informal expression. Used among close friends.

What's new? What's new?

How are you feeling? How do you feel? Such a question is not always appropriate. Most often it is asked to a person who has experienced something or who may have health problems.

How "s life? How is life?

Now consider the various answers to this question.

We answer the question "How are you?" in English

fine, thanks. And you? Great, thanks. And you? Usually, people ask “How are you?” out of politeness, so you will often see such a short answer.

Very well, thanks. Very good thanks.

pretty good. Pretty good (not bad).

OK. Fine.

Great! Great!

Not bad. Not bad.

So-so. So-so.

I "ve been better. It used to be better.

Not so good. Not very good.

I "m hanging in there. I'm holding on. Colloquial form. It means that things are going badly, but I'm holding on.

How "s life? How is life?

How's it hanging? How are you? Found in spoken English.

And finally, we will analyze the answers to such questions as: what "s going on? what" s happening? what's new?

"What "s up?" is a fashionable form of greeting, especially among young people. It is very popular in the USA, and from there it spread throughout the world. The Americans themselves do not really know what to say in response, because there are no established rules and traditions yet. But at the same time, it is considered that using such a greeting is “cool.” And many people already lack this coolness, and they distort it in different ways - “Wassup?”, “Wazzup?”, “Sup?” If this trend continues, there are hope that it will soon shrink to "P?" and then disappear altogether.

At its core, this is the question "What's going on with you?" or "What are you doing lately?", and sometimes it is used like this, saying: "Hi, guys! What's up?!". But it is also used as a greeting, especially in the USA. Like the old English greeting, which is still used in a very formal setting - "How do you do?" But there has already developed a tradition, and this question is answered with the same greeting question - "How do you do?"

In the case of "What's up?", there is no such tradition. Americans offer different options. You can simply answer "Hello!", Or "Hi!", Or "Hey!", That is, a greeting for a greeting, but it will not look "cool".

You can answer "Nothing much." If a guy responds to a girl's greeting, you can say "Not much, until you came around." You can say "Everything is down, and what about you?". The short version is "Not much. You?"

Some answer literally (like, humor, like, they thought the question was about what's up there) - "The sky." or "The ceiling.". More options from this series - "I don" t know. I"ve never been there." or "I don"t know, don"t have time to look up."

Judging by the above, personal creativity in response to such a greeting is by no means forbidden.

- short, non-committal conversations, including with strangers, for example, in an elevator or in lines. To start a conversation, people ask familiar questions like “How’re you?” or "How's going".

Do you know how to answer them? Of course, “I’m fine” - after all, it’s not customary to complain, and no one is interested in your affairs and worries. But you can come up with something else, add variety to the standard answer.

How are you?

• fine. Brevity is the soul of wit. By limiting yourself to one “fine”, you give a clear signal that you do not intend to continue the conversation.
• Not bad. Sounds a little friendlier.
• fine, thanks. It's a formal answer - just right for a stranger like a waiter in a restaurant.
• Very well, thanks. Perfectly correct answer in terms of grammar, because the question “how” suggests an adverb answer. Although, in general, few people worry about this, except that the English “grammar Nazis” may insist on observing this rule.
• Pretty good. Let's forget about grammar, long live the living language and everyday “good” and “pretty good”.
• Great! How are you doing? A full positive answer and mirroring the question to the interlocutor - let him answer now, and then, you see, and the conversation will start.
• I "m hanging in there. So you can say if the day turned out to be difficult.
• I "ve been better. Yes, the answers are not always positive, there are black bars in life. If the answer sounds sad, then this implies that you want to tell your sad story, so the next question will probably be “What's wrong?” - and your time will come to complain to the whole world.

How's it going?

It is no different from “how’re you”, respectively, you can safely use all of the above. But there is one exception answer that only works for this case:

• It's going well. Friendly and polite, suitable for colleagues, clients and distant acquaintances.

What's up?

This question in expanded form sounds like “What's happening in your life?” Naturally, an honest story about the latest events in your life is not required - a short question still requires a short answer, perhaps one of these:

• Nothing much. The most popular answer, because most of the time nothing interesting happens. Although you can answer like this: “Nothing much. Just preparing to great weekend party”.
• Not a lot. Same “nothing special”, just a little different.
• nothing. This answer sounds a bit annoyed, perhaps rude.
• Oh, just the usual. It can be used if everything is absolutely the same and there is nowhere to expect diversity.
• Just the same old same old. The same routine without a glimmer of novelty. The difference with this answer is in demonstrating that you are a little bored with all this.
• Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff! If the number of interesting events in your life rolls over, answer like this.

(How are you? How are you?) - a question that is usually asked at a meeting and greeting. There can be a great many answers to it, as in Russian. Which answer to choose depends on the relationship between the speakers and on each specific situation. However, there is a classic formal answer that every beginner to learn English from scratch should know: “ I'm fine thank you" (thank you I'm fine)

Pronunciation of the question "How are you?"

Listen to how this question sounds from the lips of a native speaker:

Using transcription, repeat these sentences after Steve. Be sure to copy his intonation and rhythm of speech.

And now watch a short video, in the second part of which you can also reproduce the phrases yourself using subtitles.

Possible answers to the question "How are you?"

I'm fine, thank you. How about you?
fine, thanks. And you?
Thanks, okay, how are you? This is a formal answer to the question of an unfamiliar or generally unfamiliar person - just a tribute to politeness. The same question asked in response already indicates your politeness.
Great!- Wonderful! An enthusiastic answer, you may want to continue the conversation and be more specific about what's going on in your life.
not bad- not bad
Very well, thanks- very good thanks
pretty good- pretty good.

The difference between "How are you?" and "How do you do?"

« How do you do?" - how are you?
Sometimes there is confusion between these two questions, so pay your special attention to the fact that " How do you do?” is not really a question, it is another way of greeting a person whom you see for the first time in your life. The correct response is either to say the same thing in response, that is, to say " How do you do? or say something like: Nice to meet you or hello. This greeting is used in a formal situation, most often by the British.
- this is a question, but keep in mind that you should not immediately rush to tell the whole truth about your life, no one expects this, formally it is enough to answer "I'm fine thanks. And you?"

Exercises on the topic "How are you?"

Complete the following greeting dialogues with appropriate phrases:

Sarah: Hello, Jack! ...................... Jack: Hey, Sarah! ............................... How about you? Sarah: I"m..................... thank you.

Jack: Hey Sarah! fine, thanks. How about you?

Sarah: I"m fine, thank you." title="">Answer (click)