40+ ways to answer “How are you?” | Fluent English

"Dear Mom, thanks for your message. I'm doing okay. How are you? Send."

Perfect. Okay. Always text your mom. Okay. Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking,

and welcome to this lesson on 40+ ways to answer the question, "How are you?"

How are you? It's a very common question when you meet someone, and there are numerous ways

to answer it. So we will look at positive responses, medium-level responses, and negative

responses. If you're not feeling great, if there's something happening in your life that is causing

you stress, or maybe you feel sick, we'll talk about all of that. So we will have some idioms

in this lesson as well. Everything is very useful, very practical, and I will ask you to repeat at

various times during the lesson. So let's begin. So if someone asks, "How are you?" and you want

to give a positive response, you know what? You feel good. Maybe you feel great. Maybe you feel

excellent. I don't have excellent there, but you can say, "I'm excellent." So from the top,

you can say, "I'm great." Now, maybe this is a cultural thing, and I think it's similar in many

cultures, but a lot of people, most people don't say, "I'm great", because the person asking the

question, "How are you?" might think, "That's weird. What do you have happening in your life

that is so great?" You know? Like, most people expect the response of, "I'm okay. You?" That's

really one of the most common ones. Or, "Not bad." Right? We'll get to that one in a little bit.

So, yeah, you can say, "I'm great." You can say, "I'm really good." Or, "I'm pretty good." So,

"really", right? You're intensifying the good. "Pretty good", like middle good. Or you can just

say, "I'm good. I'm good." So, repeat after me, "I'm good. You?" Nice. You can also say, "I'm well."

So, "well" typically refers to your physical health, whether you're sick or not, but it can

just refer to how you're doing in general, emotionally, in addition to physically, maybe

even spiritually, you know, whatever method you want to use to measure your level of wellness.

"I'm fine." So, "fine", again, it's still... It's not great, but it's not bad, and it's not really,

like, you know, in the middle. It's above the middle a little bit. If you had a scale of zero

to 10, "I'm fine" is probably a solid 6.5 out of 10, I would say. Maybe a 7, even. Let me know in

the comments if you think that's what "I'm fine" means. Now, I know you have seen other YouTube

videos where people tell you, when someone asks you, "How are you?", don't say, "I'm fine, thank

you. And you?" You can say it. It's not the worst thing in the world. It's not the end of the world

to say, "Yeah, I'm fine, thank you. And you?" because you can say it in a casual way. It still

sounds natural, but it is not really the most common, you know, way or the most natural way

to answer the question, "How are you?" Normally, you just say, "You". You can say, "And you",

but just "you" is really the most common way in a casual situation because you just want to,

you know, end the exchange a little quickly. "I'm a-okay". Now, I don't say this. "A-okay",

it sounds a little bit like something I would hear maybe in a movie or a TV show.

It's a little too cheesy, I guess, would be... That would be the word, so I wouldn't really say,

like, "I'm a-okay", like I want to be like a little cowboy or something, like, "I'm a-okay,

partner". But you can use it if you want to be funny, maybe. If you're in the, you know,

the United States or something like that, maybe, in parts of it, "I'm okay". "Okay" is a very,

like, neutral, common response, very standard. "I'm all right". You'll notice the spelling,

I put A-L-L space R-I-G-H-T. This is the correct way to spell it, but people also spell it the

other way, A-L-R-I-G-H-T, and that's becoming more accepted as a way to say "all right", which means,

like, everything is correct, or good, or fine. So, "I'm all right". And again, "All right",

"I'm fine", "I'm okay". "All right", "All right". Next, "all good". Like, if you just want to be

very casual and say, "Everything is normal", "Everything is fine", "I have nothing to complain

about", "Life is fine", you can say, "All good. You?" There I go again. So, let me ask you how

you're doing, and I want you to say, "All good. You?" So, let me ask you, "How are you?"

"All good." Yeah, "I'm all good, too." Good. All right. Next, I mentioned this one before,

"can't complain". "Can't complain" means, like, "I can't complain. I don't have anything to

complain about. My life isn't fantastic, but you know what? I have nothing to complain about. You

know, I have a house, I have a job, I have food on the table, I have friends and family. I can't

complain." Next, "You know what? I've never been better." Maybe you have received some amazing news

recently. Maybe you got a new job, or a raise, or you were accepted to the university that you

applied to, and you want to say, like, "Oh, man, I feel fantastic. This is the greatest day of my

life. I've never been better." So, this one, you can't say "I've", or you don't even have to say

"I have". You can just say, "Never been better." And, again, this is, like, if you are just

radiating positive energy out of your body. And, of course, you can also just say, "I'm doing",

and then say, "I'm doing okay. I'm doing well. I'm doing good. I'm doing fine." All right?

So, we got some positives here. And, you know what? Let's practice can't complain. So,

when I ask you how you are, say, "Can't complain." "Hey, how are you?"

"Okay. That's good. Nice." I meant to say "nice". Did I say "noise"? Like a strange pronunciation

of the word "nice". Next, we have this kind of medium level where maybe you're, like, a 5 out

of 10 in your mood, or maybe 5.5 to a 6. So, you can say, "How are you?" "Not bad." Honestly,

this is the most common response that I give when people ask me how I'm doing. "Alex, how are you?"

"Not bad. You?" So, it just means, yeah, okay. "So-so". "So-so", you're in the middle. "Not good",

"not bad", in the middle. "So-so". "How are you?" "Same old". "Same old" means nothing is new. I'm

doing how I usually am doing. And that, again, it depends on the person. If you know the person well,

if they say "same old", you know what that means. And usually, a person who says "same old",

they're pretty much in the middle, usually. So, let's see. "I want you to tell me you're not bad."

So, say "not bad" when I ask you a question, and that question is, "Hey, how are you?"

"Good." "All right." "Not bad." "I'll take it." Now, these ones, well, still alive, still here.

This person is trying to be a little funny, I think. They have some problems in their life,

and maybe things are really difficult and stressful at work, and they're just continuing on,

pushing on in life, continuing forward in life. So, "Hey, how are you?" "Still alive."

"Still here." You know, they need something in their life. They need some positive force,

some kind of energy to improve their life a little bit. Maybe they're just doing what they can to

survive. And speaking of surviving, "How are you?" "Surviving." Right? Just living. Life is

continuing, and I am here, a bag of flesh in this rock of the universe, and there's a big sun that's

going to burn out in a few million years, hundreds of millions of years, but I'm surviving, and I

don't know. Sorry, guys. It's getting dark. It's getting too dark. But you know what? Eh, could be

worse. Right? So, "How are you?" If you say, "Could be worse", you can say, "It could be worse",

meaning, like, the situation or life could be worse. You can also say, "I could be worse."

"I could be worse." This means, again, things are okay, but, eh, I guess they could be worse.

They're okay. They're in the middle. So, I'm okay. This one. Now, when I was in high school...

Let me tell you a story. Let's start that again. When I was in high school, I had a friend.

His name was Brian. I am going to use his name because he will never watch this video

unless he does. Hi, Brian. And we called Brian "Mr. Meh", because every single time you asked

him how he was doing, this was his answer, and he would shrug his shoulders. It's like, "Brian,

how are you?" "Meh." I guess if you're a teenager, it makes you seem kind of cool,

like you don't care, but "meh" means, like, you're very apathetic to your world, to life that is

around you. "Meh", like nothing's great, like what is so good about life, etc. So, yeah, Brian,

this one's for you, Mr. Meh. I hope you're not "meh" now. You must be in your 40s right now,

right, Brian? I think you're in your 40s. So, anyway, Brian, I hope you're better than "meh"

in your 40s. And I hope you're better than "meh" today. And then, finally, we have, eh, you know.

So, again, if you're close with people in your life, and they ask you how you're doing,

and they know your normal state, and your normal state is usually somewhere in the middle,

say, "Eh, you know." You know? Maybe they're the same. Maybe they can relate with your emotion,

with your feeling of being in the middle. Nothing is surprising. Okay. We're getting

in some dark existential places in this middle area, so let's move on to sadness, even more

sadness. So, if you're not great, you can say, "I could be better." Now, this person, if someone

says, "I could be better" or "could be better", they want to talk, so use your empathy. Use your,

you know, your social satellite. What's the antenna? Your social antenna? That's not a thing,

but I think you know what I'm trying to say. Radar, your social radar, and say, "Oh, this person

needs to have a conversation." So, you can ask them, "Hey, do you want to talk about it?" Right?

Do you want to talk about it? So, I'm going to ask you how you're doing, and I'm sorry, I'm going

to make you say, "I could be better." Things could always be better, right? So, let me ask you,

"Hey, you look a little down. How are you doing? Oh, what's wrong?" Right? So, I'm using my empathy

to, you know, ask you more about what's happening with you. If you're really tired,

"I'm exhausted." You have had a long day of work, school, social activities, maybe you're on

vacation, and you traveled to Paris, and you went up the Eiffel Tower, and you went to the Louvre,

and you went to the Arc de Triomphe. I like how I said that, "Arc de Triomphe." And at the end

of the day, you're in your hotel, and you say, "I'm exhausted." Some other ways to say, "I'm

exhausted." "I'm spent" is a bit more casual. "I'm beat" is another way that you can use.

"I'm stressed." So, again, many, many things in our lives give our stress. Not any, any things.

Many things bring stress to our lives. So, if you're stressed, you can say, "I'm stressed.

Like, the boss has me working on a project, and the project is due this Friday, and it's only

half finished. I have no idea how it's going to get done. I'm stressed." All right. Next,

"I'm overwhelmed" or "I'm a bit overwhelmed." If you're overwhelmed, there are a lot of things

happening in your life, like a wave of stuff that is causing you to feel like, "Oh, God,

how am I going to survive this?" Okay? So, if you feel overwhelmed, there are too many things

happening in your life that are covering you, like a giant wave. So, yeah, "I'm overwhelmed at

work" or "I'm overwhelmed with housework." Maybe you're preparing for a holiday or a party or

something like that, and there are too many things happening. There is too much stuff in your life.

You know what? How are you? Things have been rough lately. So, you have had what we call

a string of bad luck. So, a string of bad luck is when one negative thing happens,

and then another negative thing happens, and then another negative thing happens. So,

it's a string of bad luck. So, you can say, "Things have been rough lately." "Rough" is the

opposite of "smooth". So, a road can be smooth or a road can be rough. So, again, "Things have

been rough lately", this person also wants to talk. They want to share their life with you,

their experience with you, take them out for a coffee, be a good human being, and listen.

Sometimes just listening is all people need. Next, some people, they don't want to tell you.

They don't want to talk. You can ask them, "How are you?" Don't ask. They are somewhere else.

Their mind is thinking about the terrible things that are happening in their life or which have

happened in their life recently, and they do not want to talk. When a person says, "Don't ask",

you might just say, "Okay. I hope things get better." Right? You can say something like that,

a small encouraging word, or you can say something like, "Well, if you want to talk,

just let me know", and then walk away. Give them their space. Sometimes people need space.

All right. "I'm under the weather" or "I'm a little under the weather". So,

"under the weather" is an idiom which means you are sick. You are not feeling well.

You probably have a cold, you know, your nose is runny, and you are coughing. So,

"I'm a little under the weather. I'm a little sick." If this person is here and, you know,

you're at work with them, you might tell them, "What are you doing here? Go home" or "Go to bed",

you know? All right. This person... This person has seen some things. They have experienced a lot of

heavy, heavy things recently. So, if you ask someone, "How are you?" and they say,

"I... I don't even know anymore", they have... Their sensor, their emotional sensor is

just broken, okay? Because they don't know if they're good. They don't know if they're bad.

Maybe they need some sleep. They need some encouragement. They need a hug. They need

some space to themselves. They need a lot of things, but they just... You can say,

"I don't even know anymore. I don't know. I can't describe it. It's indescribable."

Next, "totally out of it". So, if you're out of it, it means you are not focused in the present

moment. Usually because you are tired, you have, you know, experienced a lot of things that have

made you tired, either physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or if you're out of it,

you... It's also because of substances such as alcohol or drugs, and you say, "I am out of it.

Like, I'm not here. I'm somewhere else." So, if you're out of it, you can say,

"My body is present, but my mind is somewhere else." Okay? Another way to say... Well,

not exactly this. I'll give you a bonus one. You can say, "The mind is willing, but the flesh

is weak." So, your flesh is, you know, this part of your skin. Well, under your skin, flesh.

Zombies eat human flesh. So, yeah, you can say, "You know what? The mind is willing, but the body...

But the flesh is weak." So, your mind wants to do something, but you're exhausted because you

haven't slept enough or something. Okay, so we haven't practiced in a little bit, so I'm going

to ask you how you're doing, and I want you to choose one of these responses. If you are feeling

great, that's okay. Imagine you're not, or maybe this describes how you feel today. So, ready,

I am going to ask you, how are you? Stressed? Exhausted? Overwhelmed? Fine? So-so? Hmm. I hope

you're doing well today, and I hope you have enjoyed this video. We have gone on a wild

journey today. It has been very emotional for me, probably very emotional for you if you are still

here, and I hope that you have enjoyed this lesson, you have enjoyed this conversation,

that you have practiced your English listening, and that you now have some phrases that you can

use to sound more natural in your English conversations, especially in casual settings,

but also in the workplace with your colleagues or in the classroom with your classmates.

If you want to test your understanding of this material, I'm not going to do 40 questions. I'll

do 10. I'll give you 10 questions. Go to www.engvid.com, do the quiz, test your understanding,

and in the comments, let me know, how are you? Until next time, thanks for clicking. I hope

you're well.