What's Up? Meaning and Grammar with Example Sentences | Learn English Slang

Hi, everybody.

I’m Esther.

And in this video, we’re going to talk about a slang word that is “What’s up?”

So “What’s up?” can be used in 2 ways.

The first way is a way to greet people to say, 'hi'.

And actually when we say, “What’s up?”, it means “hi”, “how are you?”

or “What are you doing these days?” right.

“What are you up to these days?”

So that’s the first way we use “What’s up?”

The second way is to ask, “What’s wrong?” “Is something wrong?”

“Is something bad happening to you?” right.

So those are the two ways we can use ‘What’s up?’.

So let’s look at these example sentences.

Here is the first one.

“Hey, Susie. What’s up?”

So this person, 'A", is asking Susie,

“Hey Susie how are you?"

or “Hey, Susie. What are you up to these days?”

“What are you doing these days?”

And here are some ways you can answer.

"Nothing much."

That means nothing special is happening in my life.

I’m not doing much or maybe if they said,

"Hey Susie what’s up?"

Susie can say, “I’m going to the movies.”

She would just say what she’s doing. Right.

Another way, remember the second way, is to ask,

“What’s wrong?” “Is everything okay?”

So here is how we would use it.

"You look upset."

"What’s up?"

Again, "You look upset. What’s up?",

"What’s wrong?"

And maybe this person would say,

“I lost my wallet.”

That’s why they’re upset.

“I lost my wallet.”

So you can say why you look upset.

“What’s going on?” Or “What’s wrong?”

Now let’s look at how to pronounce it one more time.

“What’s up?”

It’s almost like what’s and up are blended, like they are connected.

“What’s up?”

And I also want to mention

that some people say, “What up?”

They take out the ‘s’.

“What up?”

Or some people even just say ‘sup’ right?

‘Sup’ that means the same thing

but I want you guys to make sure that you use “What’s up?”

That’s the best way to say it.

Let’s look at a few more example sentences together.

Okay, let’s look at some examples.

Long time no see what’s up?

Long time no see what’s up?

I was surprised to get your call. What’s up?

I was surprised to get your call. What’s up?

What’s up with you these days?

What’s up with you these days?

Are you crying? What’s up?

Are you crying? What’s up?

Okay, so we’ve looked at some example sentences.

Now, let me remind you that “What’s up?” is a great way to say “Hello” or “How are you?”

But remember, only to somebody that you know well.

So maybe a friend ... maybe family if you’re very close,

but never in a business conversation.

And never in a formal conversation where you are meeting with somebody very important.

In those cases you just want to say, “How are you?”

Not “What’s up?”

Okay?

Alright, well I hope this video helped you guys learn more English.

And see you next time.