Hello, hi, hey, how are you? Are these just the words that you normally limit yourself
to, when you meet someone you know? well, there are so many expressions that you can
use in English when you meet someone you know in order to greet them and today I'm going
to take you through a couple of different expressions that you can use to greet someone.
You’ll do this lesson with me, Sonia.
Now imagine if you've met someone after a very long time, maybe it's a friend or an
office colleague or may be just someone that you know. Obviously when you meet someone
after a long time, you would want to know how they have been or what they have been
doing all this while, right. So just a hi, a hello or how are you will not really help.
Let’s look at the first expression; it says hey Marc, how have you been? Alright, what
do you mean to say, when you say how have you been? It means to ask, how are you, okay
or how is everything going? Just because you haven't seen that person in such a long time.
What could be the responses to, how have you been? You could say, not too bad. Not too
bad means everything's just okay, just normal, just okay, nothing great. The next thing you
could say is, I'm doing well, which is more positive, more nice. You could also respond
by saying everything is good, thanks. It’s always a good idea to thank the person because
they've asked you, how you have been doing so long.
The next expression for someone you haven't seen in a very long time, Hi Nancy, what have
you been up to? This also means to ask, you know what have you been doing? Where have
you been living so far? Or have you changed your job? Just to know what's been going on
with your life. A couple of very easy responses that you can use, when there's nothing much
to say, you could just say, nothing much just the usual. When I say usual it means, just
the regular, going to work and all of that nothing different. But if you want to be very
specific with your response, you could say something like, I'm pretty tied up with work
otherwise everything is great. I'm pretty tied up means I'm pretty busy with work, otherwise
everything is great and when you say otherwise everything, everything would take care of
home, health, your life, etc. that's what you mean to say. So these two questions you
could use for someone you have met after a very long time, someone you know. Okay both
of these.
Now the next expressions here, are for someone who you meet unexpectedly, you're surprised
by seeing this person. imagine if you have a friend or you know someone who hates shopping,
who doesn't like shopping, I know there are very few people like that but yes if you do
know someone like that and if you see them at a mall, aren't you gonna be surprised?
I mean like this person never really shops and all of a sudden they are at a sale at
a mall. So that's gonna really take you by surprise. That’s when you can say something
like, hey Maria, it's good to see you, what are you doing here? It’s good to see you
means it's nice to see you or it's nice to meet you. So it's important not just to show
your expression of surprise on your face but also in your words. So you could say, what
are you doing here? Because you're really surprised. Maybe she could say, I've just
come shopping. Maybe she needed to buy a gift or she had something else to do so she's come
shopping come for a change. What if you've met someone at a doctor's clinic? You don't
expect to meet your friend's at a doctor's clinic. I mean that's something really strange,
it doesn't happen all the time. So if you happen to meet someone like that a clinic
or at a hospital, one of the responses could be, I'm here for my regular checkup. You don't
really need to give out details or divulge any information as such. So you could simply
say, I’m here for my regular checkup. most of the times, I've noticed that when we meet
people suddenly out of nowhere, we are so dumbstruck, we don't know what to say. But
yes you can use a question like this and you can definitely give such responses that'll
be very good.
Another question that you can ask in a case like this, what a surprise, how have you been?
Now when you use this sentence, what a surprise! It should reflect in your tone and on your
face, alright? Make sure that your expression and your words match. How have you been? So
there are two ways that you can respond to this expression, you could say, oh I'm doing
great, how about you? Or I'm just fine, thank you. Okay again here, you're being polite
by thanking the person. So this can be used to greet someone you met unexpectedly, which
means you were not expecting to meet or to see the person, that's when you can use these
two expressions. Now we're going to look at how we can use expressions when you meet someone
at a restaurant and how you can greet them.
So let's look at a couple of expressions that we can use, when you meet people at a restaurant.
Now when you finish with your hi and you hello and you've finished greeting the person, how
do you extend your conversation? You can't always talk about the food, the dessert, etc.
there is another way also that you can talk about a restaurant. For example, you can ask
someone's opinion. So let's look at one statement like that. It’s a question; hey do you come
to this restaurant often? So while you're eating or when you've just met up with your
friend, you could ask them a question like this to know, if they come to this place often.
When I say often, I mean to say, regularly. so in response to a question like this, if
may be you don't come to the place often, you could say, I don't but I like the place
or if you come to the place often, you can say, we yes I do. Alright that's how you can
get someone's opinion on that restaurant. You could even ask a question like; do you
like this place too? Okay may be you’ve met a friend of yours a few times at that
restaurant. So may be the next time you meet them, you could say, hey do you like this
place too? I see you here quite often. In response to this you could say, I really love
it, it's my favourite hangout. Okay, wat do I mean when I say, hangout? Hangout is a place
that you visit very often, a place that you are very comfortable in. alright so it could
be you know, may be a restaurant or possibly a coffee shop. Alright, like maybe you like
hanging out at Starbucks, it's one of your favourite places to go. Whenever you feel
like having a coffee or you feel like just hanging around or chilling out with your friends,
you go to that place. So a place like that would be termed as a hangout.
So this is how you can actually even extend your conversation at a restaurant, rather
than sticking to your hi and hello, alright. Well I do hope that you've understood these
sentences, you've understood how to respond in different situations. Make sure that you
use them in your day to day conversation. The more you use these expressions the more
confident you will sound when you use them. I'll be back soon with something more interesting,
till then you take care, see you later, bye.