Hey, how's it going? Hey, what's up?
These two greetings are two of the most common in American English,
but what exactly are these greetings saying or asking?
Does someone expect a specific response with those greetings?
And do they really want to know how you're doing?
Are they asking you about your day not quite?
Given that these greetings are so common,
are they also polite and respectful enough to use with others where you live,
even if it's someone you don't know or haven't met yet? For example, a neighbor?
Well, sometimes. In this Confident English lesson today,
we're going to learn different ways to say hello in English,
including greetings for casual conversations, professional situations,
and how to say hello to people you don't know very well or don't know at all.
We'll also explore nuance.
How do you determine the level of formality required?
Or what should you say based on someone's age? For example,
a peer versus someone who's older than you? And lastly,
how do you know for sure when someone is truly asking you,
how are you? How are you doing?
When does someone really want to know the details?
If you don't already know, I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English.
Everything I do is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your
life and work in English.
One way I do that is by sharing my weekly Confident English lessons,
which you can find at my Speak Confident English website and at the Speak
Confident English Channel on YouTube. While you watch this lesson,
make sure you subscribe so you never miss one of my future Confident English
lessons.
Before we get into specific examples of how to say hello and casual
conversations,
I want to talk a little bit about the structure of a typical greeting In an
effort to be friendly and polite,
it's not uncommon for an English speaker to greet a friend, an acquaintance,
a neighbor, or even a stranger with, Hey, how's it going?
Hey, how are ya? Hi. How's it going? To be clear.
Each of those greetings is considered a casual friendly greeting that
can be used in a variety of situations,
and they all mean one thing. Hello.
These simple,
polite greetings are used to acknowledge someone else's presence
or take that first step in a conversation.
And in this structure you have a simple greeting word, hi,
hey, hello. Combined with a question such as,
how's it going? How are ya? How's everything? However,
this is not the same as asking someone, how are you?
How are you doing today?
These greetings are not an invitation to get into all the
details of how your day is going, how you're feeling,
or what's happening at work. In fact,
the only response expected to a greeting such as, Hey,
how's it going? Is a simple fine. Thanks, you good, thanks,
and you, or a similar response, Hey, what's up?
In other words,
two people walking past each other might greet each other with a, Hey,
how's it going? And then keep walking past each other. Again,
these are simply forms of saying hello. Now, at this point,
you may be wondering, okay, well, if someone says, Hey, how's it going?
And they don't really want to know how my day is going,
then when do they want to know?
When is someone asking me how I'm doing?
That is a great question.
It's definitely a question I'll be answering in this lesson.
But before we get there,
let's get to common greetings for casual conversations and
professional circumstances.
Because I'm American and living in the US,
I'm going to focus the greetings in this lesson on those typically used in the
United States. Now,
if you live somewhere else and you're not sure which greetings are best to use,
where you live, I have a recommendation. Listen carefully to others around you,
particularly those who consistently speak with politeness, kindness,
and warmth. What greetings do they use in different situations?
This is the best way to determine how to say hello, where you live.
Now for casual greetings in the United States,
whether it's seeing a friend unexpectedly at the grocery store,
greeting a coworker in the elevator or saying hello to a neighbor,
let's start with the first one on our list. Good morning,
I know you've learned this before. Along with good afternoon and good evening.
I want to start just with good morning. At the moment,
this greeting is our most formal for casual conversations.
However, it's still very friendly and warm.
This combination of formality and warmth make it an ideal
greeting to use when saying hello to a stranger on a morning walk,
greeting a neighbor or a coworker, of course,
because it includes the word morning, we stop using it around noon. Now,
you might be wondering if that's a good time to switch to good afternoon,
and my answer is,
kind of good afternoon has a higher level of
formality than good morning,
so it feels very distant and might be considered too formal for
casual conversations. So instead of a good afternoon,
you're more likely to hear hello or hi. After those morning hours,
along with an informal hi, you might also hear hey or Hey there,
and as we discussed earlier,
these are commonly combined with a question such as,
how's it going? How are you doing? How are you?
So together you're likely to hear, Hey, how you doing? Hi,
how's it going? Hey, how's your day going? So if someone greets you with a,
Hey, how's it going? Your response might be fine. Thanks,
you good? Thanks, you great. How's it going?
Similar to how's it going?
Is a more informal what's new or what's up?
And just like we've already learned,
these are typically combined with hi or Hey, hey, what's up? Hi,
what's new? And a typical responses, not much you,
not a lot you, Hey, what's up?
I want to pause here for a moment because we've gone through several
casual greetings and you might be wondering, is it appropriate,
is it respectful and polite enough for me to say, Hey,
what's up to one of my elderly neighbors or someone I know know very well?
How do you know which greeting to use and when? In this list? So far,
we've gone from good morning to what's up.
We've gone from the most formal on this list to the least
formal. No matter who,
you might be speaking to your boss in a parking lot,
a friend at the grocery store, a neighbor watering her garden,
an elderly neighbor sitting on her front porch,
a receptionist at the doctor's office,
it's always important to keep in mind the appropriate level of
respect and politeness.
The less well known and the older someone is,
the more respect and formality we expect.
For example, every morning I go running around my neighborhood.
When I see someone I don't know or someone who's older than me,
I always use a good morning or a hello.
If it's someone around my age or someone I recognize,
maybe we've walked past each other before, I'll switch to a hello.
Hey, how's it going? Or, hi, how are you? And of course, if it's someone I know,
well, I'll switch to the most informal structure we've discussed.
With that in mind, let's switch our focus to more professional circumstances.
Before we do,
I want to acknowledge that there are many other ways to casually say hello in
English. I provided a few more examples,
including some regionally specific examples with this lesson
at my website. So if you want to review more,
definitely visit this particular lesson at the Speak Confident English website.
I'll leave a a link to that in the notes below this video. As you know,
in professional circumstances,
we typically increase the level of formality and respect.
This includes job interviews, business meetings,
meeting with potential or new clients,
saying hello to the company president, the ceo, or upper level management,
or meeting new colleagues for the very first time,
just like we had on our list of casual greetings,
using good Morning is always a great option for saying hello
again. It has that wonderful combination of politeness and warmth.
To go a step further with a level of formality,
you could combine good morning with someone's title and their last name,
for example. Good morning, Ms. Smith. Good morning, Mr. Williams.
Now, here in the United States, we're far more informal,
and most of the time we prefer first names.
So you could also use Good Morning Anne Marie.
And if you're greeting a group of people, for example,
you're initiating or getting a business meeting started,
you could begin with Good morning everyone. Of course,
once we reach that noon hour, we stop using good morning,
and that's an appropriate time to switch to good afternoon or even good
evening. But I want to add a caveat to that. As I mentioned earlier,
good afternoon and good evening still carry far more
formality, at least here in the United States.
So it's less likely to use good afternoon or good evening when saying
hello to one individual. However,
they're very common when we're greeting a group for, for example,
if you have a business meeting in the afternoon or in the evening hours,
you might begin the meeting with. Good afternoon everyone.
Good evening everyone. Next on our list is, how do you do,
and this is an important one to discuss because it's often confused for
the question, how are you? To be very clear,
how do you do is not a question, it's a greeting.
Moreover, it's rather old fashioned and not used often.
In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever used it. If it is used,
it's typically when we meet someone for the very first time in a
particularly formal situation,
it's often used as an alternative to,
it's a pleasure to meet you or it's nice to meet you. For example,
if you're meeting someone for the very first time at a highly formal event,
you might hear, good evening, Ms. Williams.
How do you do next?
On our level of formality with professional circumstances is a simple hello
and high, and just like we discussed with casual greetings,
these are often followed by a quick question. Hi, how have you been doing?
Hi, how have you been?
Listen carefully to those questions and pay close attention to the
pronunciation. Notice that you don't hear a clear,
how have you been doing? Or how have you been?
Instead, how? How have you been?
How have you been doing? Try it with me for a moment. How have you been?
How have you been doing with these greetings?
The expectation is that you provide a short, positive,
focused response, for example. Great, thank you. And you?
Good, thanks you. I'm fine, thank you. And you,
now that you have a variety of ways to casually and professionally say
hello to others, let's talk about when does, how are you mean?
How are you? With all the greetings we've discussed,
we've heard a number of alternatives to that question. How are you including,
how's it going? How have you been? How are you doing?
But none of these questions really ask, how are you?
When those questions are combined with a greeting,
it is simply a long way to say hello.
So when does someone want a real answer to that question?
When is someone truly inquiring about your day,
how you're feeling, or how things are going at work?
The secret is they will ask you twice.
Let's take a look at a scenario to better understand this.
Imagine you unexpectedly see a coworker at the grocery store,
and this conversation happens. Your coworker says,
Hey, Sue. Good to see you. How's it going? Your response, good, thanks.
You and your coworker responds with, ah, everything's fine.
Just busy with the kids. Of course. So how are you?
It's been a pretty tough few weeks with a looming deadline at work, hasn't it?
What did you notice in that dialogue? The coworker asked,
how are you a second time? The first one was part of a greeting,
Hey, how's it going? And the second one was intentional.
It was a signal that they really want to know specifically
how you are doing. How is your day going? How are you feeling?
They want details, not just a quick fine thanks,
or everything's good. Thanks. And now I have two questions for you.
Number one, I'd love to know,
did you have an aha moment or a light bulb moment while watching this lesson
today? If you did, tell me about it.
You can share with me in the comments below. And my second question,
what is your favorite way to greet others in English where you live?
Perhaps there's a greeting you typically use that I didn't include on this list.
So I would love to know what it is. And again,
the best place to share with me or ask your questions is in the comments section
below this video. Thank you so much for joining me today,
and I look forward to seeing you next time for your English lesson.