You must have heard the question How are you? Even while on vacation, complete strangers can ask you for help, but at the same time they will not forget the duty Hey, how are you? How can I get to…? Perhaps this is the next phrase after Hello, which is taught in the classroom at school. “How are you?”, “How are you?”, “How are you?” – all this is a translation of How are you?.
How to answer How are you? And when to stop?
In English, this is undoubtedly a lifesaver! You can greet a colleague, strike up a conversation with a stranger, be polite to a customer in a cafe, or meet a girl you bumped into on the street. The story that yesterday you went to the theater, ate porridge in the morning, you meet your girlfriend tomorrow, and the price of gasoline has grown indecently, will not be the correct answer to the question How are you? If you have been abroad or watched the original American film, you will definitely notice that almost no one answers this question.
Only one correct answer
How to answer How are you? to your address? What are the options?
- I'm fine, thank you! And you? (“Great, thanks, and you?”) is the most common and universal response.
- Or: very well, thanks, how about yourself? (“Very well, how about you?”).
- Or: doing fine, thanks ("I'm doing fine, thank you!").
The point is to react lightly and positively! Even if your car breaks down, your phone is dead, or your wife is offended by you once again. If you met with friends or relatives, then after exchanging such a greeting, you will already be asked about some specific events, problems or plans.
But why even ask then?! From the position of a Russian person, it is quite difficult not to embark on a lengthy narrative about what is happening in life. The English greeting does seem a little frivolous, but you can only think so if you take it as a question. But things are not exactly like that. It's perfectly normal for this type of dialogue, it's the American/English way of being polite.
If you want to be persuasive in English, you need to master these mini-conversations. They will come in handy more than you think (for example, at the checkout in a supermarket, at the reception in a hotel, or when paying a bill in a restaurant). One can imagine the eyes of a waiter who looks at the harmless How are you doing? they will talk about torn tights, the vile character of the boss or insomnia. At best, the interlocutors will nod understandingly and try to support with general phrases, at worst -will feel uncomfortable. There is nothing worse for starting a conversation than the embarrassment of an unfamiliar interlocutor. It will take a lot of effort to break the protracted silence or move the conversation to another topic.
How to surprise someone with an answer
How to answer How are you? if you want to be known as a joker, amuse or amaze your foreign friend:
- I could complain, but I'm not going to. – I could complain, but I won't.
- Do you want the short version or the long one? – Do you want the short version or the full version?
- Hanging in there. – Coping.
- Shhhh. It's a secret. - Shh, it's a secret.
- Who wants to know? – Who cares anyway?
- Somewhere between blah and meh. – Something between "bee" and "fi".
- Overworked and underpaid. – Overtired and underappreciated.
Actually, these answers are not so bad and inappropriate if you came to a friend or mom. To whom, if not them, you can complain from the threshold about the futility of being. Although you also need to be careful with your mother - she will worry!
What else?
Sure, how are you? is not the only way in English to greet a person. For such cases, there is also, for example, the phrase What's up? Undoubtedly, these expressions are different. First, what's up? is a more informal expression, and is more commonly spoken by young people. Second, how are you? is a question abouta person's state of mind, his mood, and what's up? – about what a person is doing and what has happened in his life lately.
That is why the last question can be answered that you study, work, get sick or have returned from vacation, although most often the answer is not much - nothing. There is even an abbreviation for such an answer in written speech - nm.
Alternatively, for closer people or in a more serious life situation (a person on the street became ill, for example) Is everything okay? This question implies a more honest answer.
The nuances in the use of questions-greetings are more related to the peculiarities of the mentality of English-speaking countries than to linguistic rules. Therefore, if you want to differ as little as possible from native speakers and feel confident when communicating in a foreign language, then such moments (like answering how are you?) are worth paying attention to. But even if such an incident happened to you, do not be upset - after a while you will remember this episode with laughter and never again make such a mistake.
