(1) hey,
\n(2) hi\/ hello
\n(3) how are you?
\n(4) how ya\u2019 doin?
\n(5) good morning\/ afternoon\/ evening.<\/p>\n
Today we\u2019re going to learn even more dynamic ways to say hi and connect with people.<\/p>\n
As we mentioned in the first article, the way you greet and connect with people will determine not only their perception of you as an English speaker, but also the quality of the connection you create with the person, and your own confidence in speaking English.<\/p>\n
So here we go. Let\u2019s do this!<\/p>\n
Dynamic Greetings (formal and informal)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>6. HOW\u2019S IT GOIN\u2019?\u2014 In American English, both informal and formal, this is asking \u201chow is IT going?\u201d The \u201cit\u201d is your life, your day, your energy (third person singular), but NOT YOU.\u00a0 Correct response: IT\u2019S going well. (The response, \u201cIt\u2019s going,\u201d implicitly communicates that \u201cthings could be better).<\/p>\n People often make the mistake of saying \u201cI\u2019m going well.\u201d\u00a0 You can also replace \u201cIT\u201d with any other thing, such as \u201cyour day\u201d or \u201cyour job\u201d or anything. (Note: Australians contradict this, using \u201cHow are YOU going,\u201d which demands a response of \u201cI\u2019m going well.\u201d)<\/p>\n 7.\u00a0WHAT\u2019S GOIN\u2019 ON?\/ WHAT\u2019S GOIN\u2019 DOWN?\u2014 This is generally informal, but it\u2019s still pretty common. Both of these questions are asking \u201cwhat is happening,\u201d which, similar to \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d (#9) it doesn\u2019t ask for a long or informative response.\u00a0 While \u201cWhat\u2019s Goin\u2019 Down\u201d is a big more slangy and informal, both of these are used with people you know.<\/p>\n 8. HOW\u2019VE YOU BEEN (LATELY)?\u2014This one is confusing for some intermediate learners because they confuse the verb tenses (the present perfect with the present perfect continuous) and are not familiar with the expression.\u00a0 The lately is implicit in the expression.<\/p>\n The correct response is, \u201cI\u2019ve been well,\u201d but a lot of native speakers say \u201cgood.\u201d Even though \u201cI\u2019m good\u201d is not technically a correct response, it\u2019s popular to use.<\/p>\n 9.\u00a0WHAT ARE YOU UP TO<\/em>?\/ WHAT\u2019VE YOU BEEN UP TO<\/em>?\u2014 Most non-native English speakers don\u2019t understand this question because few people know that \u201cup to\u201d means \u201cdoing.\u201d It\u2019s asking \u201cWhat are you doing\u201d\/ \u201cWhat have you been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n The pronunciation is another challenge to recognize because Americans pronounce any \u201cT\u201d that is between two vowels as a D. (i.e. better= \u201cbedder\u201d).<\/p>\n Pronunciation Notes:<\/p>\n 10. LONG TIME NO SEE\u2014 Is a common expression to greet people you haven\u2019t seen in a long time. Although it\u2019s very popular amongst natives, the funny thing is that it\u2019s actually not even close to correct English, as it was introduced by Chinese immigrants as a direct translation of the Chinese expression, \u201cHao jiu mel jian.\u201d<\/p>\n Note: Latin Americans who say \u201cHow long\u201d are incorrectly translating \u201cquanto tempo\/ cuanto tiempo\u201d and they should use \u201cLong time no see.\u201d<\/p>\n Dynamic Informal\/ Slang Greetings<\/strong><\/p>\n 11.\u00a0YO\u2014 A relaxed, slangy social greeting amongst people who are friends\/ close (often young people). The origin of this is Sylvester Stallone in the movie Rocky<\/em>, when he says \u201cYo, Adrian.\u201d\u00a0 This is definitely informal.<\/p>\n After Rocky, it was popularized by rappers and then picked up by the white American middle class.\u00a0 This is also used to get somebody\u2019s attention (just like \u201chey\u201d), and also as a slang expression for your (Yo, how\u2019s yo\u2019 English?). \u201c<\/p>\n 12.\u00a0WHAT(\u2018S) UP\/ WAZZUP\/ SUP?\u2014 \u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d literally asks what you are doing, but the asker is often using it as an informal greeting that doesn\u2019t ask for more than a brief response.\u00a0 You should respond with \u201cnothing\u201d or if it\u2019s appropriate, briefly tell them what you\u2019re doing. \u201cWhat up\u201d\/ \u201cWazzup\u201d and \u201cSup\u201d are all variations of this.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a popular Budweiser commercial that uses it not only \u201cWazzup\u201d in a humorous way, but also other greetings.<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UDTZCgsZGeA<\/a><\/p>\n If you wanna learn more about \u201cdynamic English skills\u201d and haven\u2019t yet, be sure to read Part 1, and I invite you to download a free copy of the popular Real Life English e-book, \u201c101 Word You\u2019ll Never Learn in School<\/a>.\u201d We\u2019ve also written a great article on greetings called \u201c23 Ways to Greet Somebody in English<\/a>.\u201d See you guys next time!<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yo, What up, English learners?\u00a0 How\u2019s it goin\u2019 with your dynamic greetings? How fluent and relaxed do you feel with your greetings?\u00a0 This is your chance to have some fun with some formal and informal greetings, and learn a few things. In part 1 of this article, we gave a deeper and modern interpretation of…<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/ingles\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2012\/12\/justin-murray.png\")
Justin Murray was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, but he currently lives in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He is the founder of the hot new ESL blog, <\/em>Real Life English<\/em><\/a>. Real Life English also has a <\/em>free international language learning community<\/em><\/a> on Facebook, with nearly 4,000 members from more than 50 countries.<\/em><\/p>\n