But after you are comfortable enough with basic vocabulary, it is important to push yourself to the next level and learn how to express yourself in other ways like: How are you, How’s it going, How have you been, and many others.
After all, English language speakers have many different ways of saying the same (or similar) things.
Let’s expand beyond the American-British English scope and learn how Aussies, people from Australia, greet someone.
We usually greet people with “hi” or “hello.” “Hi” is a bit more casual.
Hello!
Hi!
Hey!
It’s common to say “hey” for informal meetings. It’s also important to know that the word “hey” can be used to grab someone’s attention.
How are you?
How are you doing?
How’s it going?
How have you been?
All the questions above have a similar meaning.
I’m fine, thanks.
I’m good, thanks.
I’m great, thanks!
Pretty good!
Not bad, thanks.
Many people say “not bad” to mean “quite good.”
If the person that you say hello to is a friend or somebody you know, you can say:
Hey, what’s up?
What’s new?
What’s happening?
What’s going on?
Nothing. / Not much. / Nothing much.
Be aware that, usually in English-speaking cultures, people don’t typically give away a lot of personal information during a brief, informal or accidental meeting.
Listen carefully to the two videos below. Make notes of the phrases and sentences. Pay special attention to pronunciation.
Other everyday greetings are:
How’s everything?
Long time no see.
Hey, long time no see.
How’s your day?
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening
To make “good morning” less formal, you could say “morning.”
If you want to wish someone well for the night before leaving or sleeping, you can also say “goodnight.”
Saying goodbye
Bye!
“Bye” is the short form of “goodbye.”
See ya, see you soon, hope to see you soon
When you plan to meet the person soon.
Take it easy, take care, take care of yourself
These three ways of saying goodbye encourage the person in question to look after themselves until you see them again. They are informal, polite, and a friendly way to end a meeting.
“Nice to meet you” is used as a friendly greeting when you meet someone for thefirst time.
Hello. It’s nice to meet you!
But, how should you respond to a person telling you: “nice to meet you!”
Would “Me too” be okay?
You may like to start by saying “Thank you” as this is more polite. Then:
Formal:
Nice to meet you too. – the most common way
Pleased to meet you too/as well.
It’s a pleasure to meet you too/as well.
Pleasure to meet you too.
The pleasure is all mine.
Formal and informal:
It’s very nice to meet you (too/as well).
Nice to meet you too.
Lovely to meet you.
Likewise.
Glad to meet (you too).
You too.
Pleasure.
And you.
Same here.
Now, what about “Me too?”
Try to avoid using “me too” because there is not a consensus about that. Saying “me too” wouldn’t make sense as it means “It’s also nice for me to meet me.”
Got it? So there are plenty of other options. Vary according to the person you are responding to and the setting.
