This is a subtle way to recognize that the recipient may have things going on in life or at work that could affect them. Because it’s phrased as a statement rather than a question, it allows the other person to skip the specifics if they don’t want to share personal details. 5

These are common greetings when you have not seen someone you know for some time and often follow a hi or hey . Perhaps it was a stranger you walked past in your neighborhood. Or someone you’ve seen at work once or twice but you don’t really know. All right. I’ve been working a lot lately. How about you?” English Greetings: Group 3 What’s up? / What’s new? / What are you up to?* There are many different ways to say Hello and Goodbye in English. In this lesson, you’ll learn some of the most common greetings and goodbyes. The greetings are divided into three groups with appropriate responses. English Greetings: Group 1 Hi / Hi there / Hello / Hey / Hiya / Howdy Group 1 Responses Hi, how are ya? / Hey, how’s it goin’? English Greetings: Group 2 How ya doin’? / How are ya? / How’s it goin’? / How are things? / How’s life? Group 2 Responses Good, and you? / All right, how about you?

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While not as common as hi or hey, you may occasionally hear “yo.” It is typically only used with individuals who know each other well and is more common And is it polite or respectful to say “Hey, how’s it going” even with people you don’t know very well, like your neighbors? But none of them really ask, how are you? When those questions get asked in a greeting, we don’t really expect a lengthy conversation about how you’re doing. With our casual and professional greetings, we’ve heard many alternatives to the question “How are you” including

When responding to these greetings, the expectation is that you use simple answers or simply respond with a similar greeting. For example Context of the conversation (how long it’s been since you saw them, what you last spoke about, etc.)Similar to the casual greetings we discussed, we’ll often start a professional conversation with a simple hi or hello. Would you like to talk about X? This is an empathetic inquiry about a potentially sensitive event or aspect of a person’s life—with the built-in option for them to decline.