Speaking English: How You SHOULD [and Shouldn’t!] Respond to “What’s Up?”

How should you respond to “What's up?” Today, we'll look at six different  

conversations to study the right response  to “what's up?” in English. The first thing  

to know is that Americans mean one of two 

different things when they ask this question. 

Number one, most common: They mean “Hello.”

They use it as a greeting. This is the most common use of it and the most

common response would be “Nothing.” or “Not much.” 

It's also very common to then say,  “How are you?” or “What's up with you?” 

So it's just a greeting and then you return the greeting.

This is a thing you might say when you see someone you know. 

Let's look at an example conversation where it's used as a greeting. 

Hey Rachel, what's up? Not much, how are you? 

I'm good. Have you heard back from Elizabeth?

Yeah, she thinks she'll be able to finish  

everything by Thursday. But if  not, then definitely by Friday. 

Okay, that should work. Thanks!

So the response to “What's up?” was “Not much, how are you?”

Simple response and then returning the question. 

Before we study another conversation, let  me introduce myself. I'm Rachel and I've  

been teaching English speaking skills  on YouTube for over 15 years. Get my  

free course the top three ways to master the American accent at Rachelsenglish.com/free  

It will give you some killer tips to  sound more natural speaking English. 

What's up? Here's another conversation  with a slightly different response. 

Hey, what's up? Nothing, what's up with you? 

We just got back from visiting my mother-in-law. 

She retired, and had a retirement party. 

Oh, wow! Remind me, where does she live?

Madison, she worked at the university there. 

What are her plans now? She's going to be spending a lot of  

time with my sister-in-law who just had twins.

Well, that sounds like another full-time job. 

So the response to “What's up?”  was “Nothing, what's up with you?” 

The two responses we've had so far, “Not much, how are you?”

and “Nothing, what's up with you?” both mean the exact same thing.  

Returning the greeting. Here's a bonus. These responses work not only for  

“What's up?” but also for “What's going  on?” or “What's going on with you?” 

‘Nothing’ or ‘Not much’ are the most typical responses.

Let's look at another example  

conversation with a slightly different response.

Hey, what's up? 

Not a whole lot. I ran into David yesterday,  

he said you guys are going to Mexico next week?

Yeah, for Spring Break. 

We're renting the same house as  last year. I absolutely loved it! 

Wow, jealous.

Are you all going anywhere for Spring Break? 

No. We're taking a bunch of vacation time  this summer to drive to California so we  

don't have any vacation days left  to go anywhere for Spring Break. 

Here, the response to “What's up?” was “Not a whole lot.” And the question was not returned.  

This is okay, though it's probably more common as a greeting like this to return the question.  

“Not a whole lot”, “What's up with you?” There's also a completely different way you  

can answer this greeting, you can say what's going on in your life at that time.

Let's listen to an example in our next conversation.

What's up? 

I just got back from a YouTube conference.

Oh, where was it? 

Salt Lake City. Tom and I  were there for a few days. 

Nice, was it useful? Yeah, we got to meet some  

people who work for YouTube and talk about some of the new

products they're working on. I don't know if it'll change our strategy much though. 

Cool, I love Salt Lake did you do any sightseeing?  

Yeah, we did a tour of Antelope Island with a little hike at sunset.

Really beautiful. 

So here, the answer to “What's up?” was

“I just got back from a YouTube conference.” 

The main thing happening in that person's  life at that moment. Other examples of this. 

What's up? I'm just working on a big project  

for work that's due Friday. What's up? 

I'm getting the house ready for my  in-laws who are coming tomorrow. 

What's up? Oh, I'm just watching some YouTube  

learning some English. The other way that what's up is used is to  

mean ‘What do you need from me?’ In this case it's not a greeting,

you didn't just run into someone you know, but rather someone's calling you 

on the phone or you've been called into someone's  

office because they need to tell you something or they need something from you. Let's look at  

an example conversation. What's up? 

Hey, did you see my text? No. 

John and Amanda canceled. Oh no, why? 

They're leaving for Maine tomorrow, and  have too much to do before they leave. 

Okay, what do you want to do instead? Let's just do a movie night with the kids. 

Sounds good to me. Okay! 

Bye! This time, the question  

“What's up?” meant “What do you need?” So the person answered accordingly. 

What's up? Hey did you see my text? 

One more conversation like this. Hey Rachel, can you come in here a second? 

What's up? Did you get new pants for John? 

No sorry, I forgot. Okay, I'm on their website now  

so I'll just order some. Okay. 

How many should we get? Probably five. 

Okay, looks like they'll come Thursday. Great! 

Again, this time the question “What's  up?” meant “What do you need?” 

So the person responded accordingly, saying what they needed. They had a question,  

they needed information. What's up? 

Did you get new pants for John? Let's look at all of our conversations again. 

Hey Rachel, what's up? Not much, how are you? 

I'm good, have you heard back from Elizabeth? 

Yeah, she thinks she'll be able to finish  everything by Thursday. But if not,  

then definitely by Friday. Okay, that should work. Thanks. 

Hey, what's up? Nothing. What's up with you? 

We just got back from visiting my mother-in-law. She retired and had a retirement party. 

Oh, wow! Remind me, where does she live? Madison, she worked at the university there. 

What are her plans now? She's going to be spending a lot of  

time with my sister-in-law who just had twins.

Well, that sounds like another full-time job. 

Hey, what's up? Not a whole lot. 

I ran into David yesterday, he said  you guys are going to Mexico next week? 

Yeah, for Spring Break. We're renting the same house as last  

year. I absolutely loved it. Wow, jealous. 

Are you all going anywhere for Spring Break?

No, we're taking a bunch of vacation time this  

summer to drive to California, so we don't  have any vacation days left to go anywhere  

for Spring Break. What's up? 

I just got back from a YouTube conference. Oh, where was it? 

Salt Lake City. Tom and I  were there for a few days. 

Nice, was it useful? Yeah, we got to meet some people  

who work for YouTube and talk about some of the new products they're working on.

I don't know if  it'll change our strategy much though.

Cool, I love Salt Lake.  

Did you do any sightseeing? Yeah, we did a tour of Antelope Island,  

with a little hike at sunset. Really beautiful.

What's up? 

Hey, did you see my text? No. 

John and Amanda canceled. Oh no, why? 

They're leaving for Maine tomorrow and  have too much to do before they leave. 

Okay, what do you want to do instead? Let's just do a movie night with the kids. 

Sounds good to me.

Okay. 

Bye.

Hey Rachel, can you come in here a second? 

What's up? Did you get new pants for John? 

No sorry, I forgot. Okay, I'm on their website now  

so I'll just order some. Okay. 

How many should we get? Probably five. 

Okay, looks like they'll come Thursday. Great. 

If you want to remember just one response, 

go with “not much”, what's up with you?” 

Don't forget to visit Rachelsenglish.com/free 

for my Free Course on the American Accent that  

will give you some real training to  sound more natural speaking English. 

Keep your learning going now with this video

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I just love being your English teacher.

That's it and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.