Similar to the casual greetings we discussed, we’ll often start a professional conversation with a simple hi or hello. Perhaps it was a stranger you walked past in your neighborhood. Or someone you’ve seen at work once or twice but you don’t really know. Would you like to talk about X? This is an empathetic inquiry about a potentially sensitive event or aspect of a person’s life—with the built-in option for them to decline. All right. I’ve been working a lot lately. How about you?” English Greetings: Group 3 What’s up? / What’s new? / What are you up to?*

How’s it going? This is casual. You’re asking how a person’s life has been lately, in a more general sense. Some people pronounce “What are you up to?” as “Whatcha up to?” Group 3 Responses Not much. / Not much, how about you? Imagine you unexpectedly see a coworker at the grocery store. Here’s what that conversation might sound like:Let’s start with casual greetings to use most of the time, whether you’re greeting a friend, a coworker on the elevator, a neighbor you’ve never spoken to, or a complete stranger on an early morning walk. The Chelsea player, Didier Drogba, misses a clear chance of scoring a goal and falls over badly, clutching his knee in agony. The question “ where have you been hiding ” invites conversation. It is a way of saying, “ How have you been? ” Here is an example dialogue: What information you want to know (for example, do you see it as a passing conversation, or do you want a more in-depth dialogue with specific details?)

In an effort to be friendly and polite, it’s not uncommon for an English speaker to casually greet a friend, a neighbor, an acquaintance, or even a stranger with a greeting such as When you are greeting a group of people – for example at a meeting – you can also say something such as: Follow-ups like this are a great way to start conversations. Unlike a typical “How are you?” they show that you’ve been paying attention to the other person’s activities. And, more than likely, the person will be happy to start a conversation about their work or opinions once you’ve expressed interest. 4B: Hi Sue, what’s up? I’ve just been busy, working a lot of long hours. What about you? How have you been? With our casual and professional greetings, we’ve heard many alternatives to the question “How are you” including

How are you? This is polite, but it’s not necessarily a serious inquiry about the other person’s well-being.To be particularly respectful, you can also include the person’s last name, for example: “ Good morning, Ms Jones .” If you know someone well, you can also use their first name. When responding to these greetings, the expectation is that you use simple answers or simply respond with a similar greeting. For example