Formal Vs Informal English: Greetings and Responses

I know what you're thinking,

greetings is a lesson for beginners,

so why is it being featured in the intermediate course?

Let me explain.

When we first meet someone, they form an opinion about us

and they decide whether they like us or trust us,

so first impressions are really important

and something as simple as using the wrong greeting

can give the listener the wrong impression

and it can even make you appear rude

and nobody wants that.

Unfortunately, even some of my most advanced students

use the wrong greetings.

Just the other day, I received an email from a student

inquiring about lessons and he signed off with chop chop,

which means, hurry up and reply,

it was very rude and I was gobsmacked.

So let's very quickly clear up

what can be used in a formal situation

and what can be used in an informal situation.

First let's look at the formal greetings.

This is how you would greet someone at work,

at university or in any official setting,

generally, in formal conversation,

you would use full, grammatically correct sentences

with clear enunciation,

let's have a look at some examples.

Hello.

Depending on the time of day,

good morning,

good afternoon,

good evening.

If you've met the person before, you may say,

it's nice to see you again

or, it's good to see you again.

If you haven't met them before, it would be nice to say,

I'm pleased to meet you.

Often when saying hello, we will follow it with an inquiry,

for example, hello, how are you?

If you've met them before, you might say,

how have you been?

You could ask, how are things?

Like how is everything in your life?

We simply say, how are things?

You may ask a more specific question

like, how is work?

Or if you know them well enough, you may say,

how is your family?

And ways you might respond to this question

in a formal setting are,

I'm fine, thank you and you?

It's always polite to ask the question back.

You could say, I'm very well,

thank you for asking and you?

If they've asked about work, you could simply say,

it's good, thank you.

Finally when your conversation has ended

and it's time to leave, you could simply say,

goodbye

or you might say, it was a pleasure to meet you

or, it was very nice to meet you.

If you're going to see them again some time in the future,

you could say, I'll see you soon.

If you know exactly when you're going to see them,

you might say, I'll see you on Monday

or, I will see you at the event

or, I'll see you in the meeting.

Let's now look at these formal greetings in use.

Good morning.

Oh, hello, how are you?

I'm very well, thank you and you?

Not bad, thank you.

How's that project going?

It's progressing slowly.

(elevator dinging)

I'll see you at 10:30.

10:30?

Your big presentation.

Shit.

Now it's time to look at informal greetings,

this is how you would generally speak to someone

that you know on a personal level,

so your friends or your family members.

Basically everything is shortened and much more relaxed,

so instead of saying, hello, you might say, hi.

Instead of good morning, good afternoon, good evening,

you could just say, morning, afternoon, evening

and instead of saying, it's very nice to meet you,

you could say, nice to meet you.

When making those all important inquiries,

the same rules apply, usually sentences are shortened

and much more relaxed, so instead of how are you?

You might hear, how are ya?

How are ya?

Or, how a you?

How a you,

with the weak form of the word, are, a, how a you?

We also use more contractions, for example,

how've you been?

How's life?

How's it going?

How's things?

Wait!

How's things?

How is things?

That doesn't make sense.

We also make some grammatical errors

on purpose,

English is so confusing,

but that is an acceptable informal way

to inquire about someone, how's things?

When responding to these types of questions

in an informal setting, the same rules apply,

short and relaxed.

So I might answer this question with, fine, thanks, you?

Or, good, thanks, you?

And often in informal situations,

we might use much more exciting language

like, I'm fabulous, I'm awesome

or, I'm fandabbydosey, thank you very much,

but words like fandabbydosey

would not be suitable in an office situation.

Okay, let's see some of these informal greetings in use.

Afternoon.

Oh, hi, how's it going?

All good, thanks, you?

Yeah, awesome, thanks.

How's Lisa doing?

Much better now.

Good.

I've got to go, it was nice to see ya.

You too, bye.

Bye.

So which is your greeting of choice

and have you ever made the mistake

of using an informal greeting in a formal situation?

If you have, then please do write about it

in the comments section below.

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and until next time, put the kettle on, let's have a brew.

(light melodic music)