Learn 30+ ways to greet people in English

Hello!

Hi.

Good morning.

Good afternoon.

Good evening.

How are you?

You good, yeah?

Okay, excellent.

Hey everyone, I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on 35 ways to greet people.

Did you know that there are 35 ways - and probably more - that you can use to greet

people?

To say hello, hi, good evening, good afternoon.

Today, we're going to look at them.

This is a great way to build your vocabulary and to increase your speaking confidence.

So, we are going to look at some set phrases and some set questions that you can use when

you meet someone new or if you're just visiting a friend.

So, let's get started.

First, very basic, this is the Holy Trinity of greetings, okay?

So, we'll start with "Hello".

You're supposed to repeat.

Hi!

Hey.

Okay, good.

I graded them with level of formality, so "Hello" is the most formal, "Hi" is neutral,

"Hey" is very familiar, okay?

So, Hey Dad, Hey Mom, Hey buddy, Hey cat, your pet cat that you talk to every day because

you love cats, right?

Maybe.

Next, we have some time of day greetings.

So, we have "Good morning" for the morning.

So, repeat: Good morning.

Good afternoon.

Good evening.

Now for this, you can actually just, you know, for the first two especially, you don't even

have to say "good" if you're familiar with the person that you're talking to.

You can just walk in with your coffee to work or school and say "Hey, morning."

"Hey" - and afternoon, not as common.

"Hey, afternoon.", or "Good afternoon", but for "Good morning", you can just say "Morning",

and most people will know that you mean "Good morning", okay?

Next, we have two phrases here that are linked.

The first one you use when you meet someone new for the first time.

So, if someone introduces you to their friend or a colleague or someone new at work or your

school, say "Hey, this is Suzanne."

"Hi Suzanne, nice to meet you", okay?

So, repeat after me: Nice to meet you.

Good.

Someone that you know, "Hey, nice to see you."

Okay?

You can also say, "Good to see you", right?

"Hey, good to see you", okay?

Instead of "you", if you want to be a little more familiar and have the language be a little

more loose, you can say, "Ya".

So, "Hey, nice to see ya".

Good to see ya.

Beautiful.

Alright.

Next, if you haven't seen someone in a very long time, cousin, family, friend, doesn't

matter who.

Someone who you haven't seen in a long time, you can say, "Dan!

Long time no see."

Okay?

Now grammatically, this is weird in English.

Like, it's not really a grammatical phrase.

Long time no see.

You mean, we have not seen each other in a long time, but in speaking, you can just say,

"Hey, long time no see."

Did you repeat?

You're on the bus.

You're watching www.engvid.com on the bus, that's cool.

A toilet?

That's okay.

I watch videos on the - no, that's personal information.

Alright.

Next, "It's been awhile!"

Okay, so it has been a long time, right?

So, you can also say - bonus phrase - "Hey, it's been a long time, I haven't seen you

in a long time."

I haven't seen you in awhile, okay?

So, repeat after me: Hey, it's been awhile.

Alright, cool.

Next, probably one of the first questions you learn in English, right?

"How are you?"

But let's level up this question a little bit, make it a little more natural.

Naturally in conversation, people usually say "ya" instead of "you", so repeat after

me: Hey, how are ya?

One more time, because this is a very common question: How are ya?

Alright, good.

Next, instead of "How are you?", you want to make it a little longer: Hey, how are you

doing?

I am pausing in awkward way so that you can repeat, okay.

And instead of saying "How are you doing?", you can just say, very quickly like this:

How-ya-doin'?

Okay?

And some people say "How are ya doin'?"

Awkward pause for you to speak and practice, because you improve with practice.

So, let's try this one one more time: Hey, how-ya-doin'?

Your confidence is increasing, I can feel it.

You're like "Oh my Goodness, I have heard this before and now I know what it means!

It means how are you doing?"

Fantastic.

Next: How have you been?

Okay?

So, I haven't seen you in a long time.

Long time no see, it's been awhile.

How have you been since the last time I saw you from the past until now?

How have you been?

Okay?

Good?

Bad?

Great?

And let's go back to a more natural way.

You can see: How-ya-bin?

So, instead of "How have you been?", you can just say - get ready to repeat with me - How-ya-bin?

One more time, one more time: How-ya-bin?

You got it.

Next: How have you been doing?

So here, you have "How are you", "How are you doing?"

"How have you been doing", okay?

So, instead of "How-ya-bin", you can say "Hey, how-ya-bin-doin'?"

Too fast?

Okay, one more time.

Let's break it down.

Repeat after me: How ya bin doin'?

Doin'.

How-ya-bin-doin'?

How-ya-bin?

Beautiful!

Yes.

Let's continue.

So, another way to say, right, like "How have you been doing?", but maybe in the present:

How's it going?

Right, like "How are you doing?", or "How's it going?", okay.

And with -ing, sometimes we just remove the -ing in speaking and just say "n", right?

"Goin'", okay?

So, repeat after me: How's it goin'?

"It's goin' good", you say, right?

It's good, right?

So, things are going well.

Life is okay.

Alright?

And a short form to say "How's it going?", you can just say, "Hey, how goes?"

You're looking at me at like, "Ah, English.

Alex, why?

Why do we say 'How goes?'

There's nothing.

It's a weird way to say anything."

But this is how people talk, unfortunately.

So, "How's it going?" or "Hey, how goes?"

Okay, so how are things going?

And that's later on, too.

So, let's try this one more time.

Repeat after me.

Don't get tired, let me feel your energy: How goes?

Excellent!

Alright.

Next, so you can say: Hey, how's everything?

Like, is everything okay, okay?

So, how is everything?

Right?

Like, how are things with your family, for example.

Speaking of "How are things?", that's the next question that you can ask.

Say, "Hey, how are things?"

Okay, now when you say, "How are things?", it's like saying how is everything in your

life, okay?

Or maybe you're at work and you know your colleague is working on a project and you

knock on their door - "Hey, how are things?

Everything okay?

Yeah?

Okay, good."

Okay?

And instead of "How are things?", this is another grammatically incorrect thing that

we say: How's things?

Yep.

It hurts, right?

But it's okay.

You'll learn it.

So, these are the phrases that you want to learn, because these are the tricky things

that you might say, "Wait, what are they saying?

Grammatically, that makes no sense."

But people talk like that, right?

So, "How's things?"

Alright.

And you heard me ask this already, and that is: Hey, how's life?

Now, this is a question that you probably want to ask someone that you haven't seen

in a long time.

Now, are you tired yet?

Or do you have more energy?

I said there were going to be 35 of these, right?

Have we done 35 yet?

No.

No, no, no.

Alright.

I'm going to do some magic and this board is going to have a lot more questions and

greetings for you guys.

So, ready?

3...2...1... and we're back!

Amazing, right?

So, let's continue with kind of yes/no questions.

"Hey, everything okay?"

Now, all of these that you see here, like everything, everything, all, you, you, up

to here, really they're asking, you know, is everything okay?

Are you doing okay?

But when you're speaking, a lot of people just cut the auxiliary verb, the "be" verb,

and they just say "Hey, everything okay?"

Okay?

Everything alright?

Is everything okay?

Is everything alright?

So, you can ask that, you know, "Is everything okay?" in the current situation or in your

life, right?

It's like "Ah Frank, long time no see.

Everything okay?"

Alright, yeah.

And the answer is, "No, everything is terrible!

Everything is burning and I'm on fire!"

Or, "Yeah, everything's great.

Sunshine, rainbows, life is beautiful, woo!"

Depends on where you are in life, I guess.

Alright?

So, next: All good?

Is everything okay?

Is everything good in your life?

So again, you can say, "Hey Barbara, all good?"

All good?

All good?

Okay.

And they can answer, "Yep, all good."

Alright?

So, next: You doing okay?

Are you doing okay, or in, you know, quick conversation, natural conversation, natural

speech: You doing okay?

You care about this person.

You want to know if they are okay.

And again, you can also say, "Hey, you doing alright?"

Okay.

You notice I put the parenthesis on "doing", because you can also just say, "Hey, you alright?"

One more time: You alright?

I should have done the same here, because you can also just ask, "Hey, you okay?"

Alright.

So, next, some time of day greetings.

Maybe it's the afternoon or just before lunch, and you're seeing one of your colleagues,

maybe you're seeing a classmate that you haven't seen this morning and you say, "Hey, good

afternoon."

Or, "Hey, morning.

How's your day?"

Alright?

So, how is your day so far, or how has your day been going?

So here: How's your day going?

That was unnatural, the way I said it, so let's repeat that and you repeat after me:

How's your day going?

Remember, remember?

Cut the "g", right?

"Goin', goin'".

So, let's just try with "goin'", so repeat after me: goin', goin', goin'.

How's your day goin'?

Yeah.

And let's try a different one: How you doin'?

Beautiful!

Okay, next.

You notice I put these in the same category, except for the last one, because it's special.

And I put: What have you been up to?

What's new?

What's going on?

What's happening?

What's up?

Or Whaddup?

And all of these questions are basically asking the same thing.

They all mean, "What's new?"

What's going on?

What's happening, okay?

So, when someone asks you, "What's up?", the most common mistake with "What's up?" is students

- some students say "Good, you?"

"What's up?" means what is new with you?

What is happening with you in your life?

Maybe at this moment or maybe in your life in general, alright?

So, "What have you been up to?"

means hey, what have you been doing?

So, "up to" means "Hey, what have you been up to?"

Or, "What are you up to?"

Bonus greeting - more than 35 - what have you been up to?

What are you up to?

What are you doing, okay?

And, "What have you been doing with your life?"

Okay?

So, let's repeat these and then we'll look at the most common responses that you can

read if you want to read.

But ignore them for now, alright?

So, let's go with this: What have you been up to?

Okay.

Let's remove the auxiliary verb, because that sometimes happens, and just read this part:

Hey, what you been up to?

Okay?

Repeat: What's new?

What's going on?

You're getting familiar with it, right?

The no "g"?

What's goin' on?

Good.

Hey, what's happening?

Okay, let's be a little more fair.

Happening is a difficult word, so let's slow it down.

What's happening?

Okay.

Now, let's say: happenin'.

What's happenin'?

Now, you can almost cut it so it's like two syllables.

You can say "happ-nin'", right?

So: What's happenin'?

Alright.

And: What's up?

Or, very quickly.

Again, you're at work and you knock on your colleague's door.

"Hey, whaddup?"

Very fast, right?

It sounds a little hard, but that's a very common question.

What's up, whaddup?

And the most common responses that are expected, most people just say "Ah, not much".

But really, like, maybe you have something terrible happening in your life right now,

or you're very busy, or your life is exciting and there are many things happening.

But the most common answer to "What's up?", "What's new?", "What's going on?", "What's

happening?"

"What up?" is "Not much."

Hmm, just regular life stuff is happening.

Or, you can say, "Hm, same old."

Same old means nothing is new, okay?

The same old things are still happening.

Last time you saw me, I was just going to work.

I was going home and feeding my dog and I was I was watching a lot of Netflix.

I'm still doing those three things, so not much.

Same old.

You know, life is normal.

But sometimes, that's good too, right?

Like, we like the stability that provides.

So, not much, same old.

What's new?

What's going on?

What's happening?

What's up?

Whaddup?

And you can also say, "Hey, what's the word?"

Okay.

This means, like, what's new, or what's the news or the day.

So, you can ask this about a person's life or you can ask maybe about a situation in

the company that you're working for, or a project that you're working on.

So, "Hey, what's the word?"

"You know, not much.

Dan just quit.

Did you hear that Dan quit?"

That's the word.

That's the latest news, okay?

So, this one is not as common.

I left it for the end, so if you don't use this one, it's okay.

Just be aware that it exists, so that if you do hear it in a movie, if you do see it in

a book, you will know it means like, "Hey, what's the latest news?"

These, however, are much more common and you should be using them in your daily life.

In your daily language practice.

That is everything for today.

You have learned 35 ways to greet people.

Yeah, yeah.

It's exciting, right?

So, a lot of these videos you see, like "How are you?

Hi.

Good.

Okay, bye."

Not this video.

This is for those of you who want a little more and you a little more experienced in

English.

And you're maybe an intermediate or an advanced speaker and you want to take your English

to that next level, and you want to sound like a native speaker, as natural as possible.

Just come back to this video and, you know, we can review all this stuff again.

Practice the pronunciation, practice the set phrases and you will get more confident and

more comfortable speaking in English.

Now, if you want to test your understanding of a lot of the material that we've done today,

as always, you can check out the quiz on www.engvid.com . While you're there, you can check out some

of the other greeting videos that we have.

I did one on, like, how to introduce yourself in English, or most common questions and things

like that.

So, those will help you too.

But for this video, if you're watching this on YouTube, click the subscribe button.

Click the bell and then check out the description where you can also, you know, join my Facebook

page and check me out on Twitter as well.

So, how you doin' now?

You good?

Yeah?

I'm good.

I'm actually getting a little hungry, so I'm going to grab some food.

Until next time, thanks for clicking, guys.