Eloquent english12/13/2023 ![]() That’s a lot of words! No wonder you don’t know all of them, especially if you’re not a native speaker. Now you have a lot of choices of ways to ask someone, “How are you?”.Have you ever experienced serendipity? Do you have a nemesis? Are you a flibbertigibbet? Unless you know what these words mean, you won’t know the answer to these questions!Īnd if you don’t know what these words mean - don’t worry! It’s estimated that there are 171,146 words in use in the English language, plus around 47,156 obsolete words. You can give a short or a long answer to this question – it’s fine to say, “All right?”, “Yeah, all right?”, or to give a much longer answer about yourself. ![]() “All right?” is an informal way to ask someone you know well how they are. What’s new?Īn informal way of asking, “What’s been going on”, this invites the person you are speaking to tell you a bit about themselves and their life. English-speakers also ask “What’s up?” when someone looks sad but in this case, of course, the tone of voice would be different. Or, “What’s up?” – “I’ve got so much work to do…”. It could go: “What’s up?” – “Nothing much, you?”. Asking a friend or close colleague, “What’s up?” could give you a long or a short response. This is an informal way or slang to ask a friend, “How are you?”. Ways to say “How are you?” with friends What’s up? You can answer, “I’m keeping well” but this is really, really old fashioned, so it’s better to just say “Very well, thank you” or something similar. “How are you keeping?” is old-fashioned and definitely more British than American. “Are you well?” doesn’t really invite a long, in-depth answer unless it’s being asked by someone close to you who happens to be quite old fashioned. People who ask this question expect you to simply say, “Yes, I’m very well, thanks”, or something similar. So you’re more likely to hear a truthful answer to this question than you are if you ask ‘How are you?’.Ĭhoose your plan Formal ways to say “How are you?” in English Are you well? It invites them to tell you a bit about their life and what has happened since you last saw them. ![]() This is another good question to ask someone you know. So you could ask a colleague, “How’s everything?”, and they might answer, “All good, thanks. It implies that you know a bit about their life and that you don’t mind hearing about it. This is a question you would ask someone you know. But, again, the answer is likely to be, “Good, thanks”, even if it’s not true. In English speaking countries, it would be fine to use this phrase with someone more senior than you (like your boss), provided you have a bit of a relationship with them. But, it’s still a very good general phrase you can use with most people. “How’s it going?” is a bit more informal than “How are you?”. So a formal “How are you?” isn’t always a question that invites a truthful answer. We would answer in this way even if the sky is falling around us. The usual response, certainly in the English-speaking world is “Fine, thanks”, or “Good, thanks”. With friends, colleagues, your boss, your teacher… it’s always good. It’s one of the most basic phrases in the Englis h language and you can use it in any context. ![]() General ways to ask “How are you?” in English How are you?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |