How to ask ”How are you” in English?

How do you ask ”How are you” and how you answer this question?

Do you know the proper way how to ask ”how are you”? You have probably used and heard of : ”How are you? ”. It’s a grammatically correct question but native speakers don’t use it. They use many other interesting alternatives instead, which we are going too talk about in this lesson.

Stii cum este cel mai bine sa intrebi pe cineva: How are you? Ce mai faci? in Engleza Britanica? How are you? este o intrebare corecta din punct de vedere gramatical dar vorbitorii nativi nu prea o folosesc. Exista mai multe alternative interesante pe care le poti folosi. Le vom invata in aceasta lectie.

Other Ways how to ask How are you?

Would you like to learn how to express yourself better, in a more interesting way, just like a native speaker? Learn English with us!

Ti-ar placea sa inveti cum sa te exprimi mai bine in Engleza, intr-o maniera mai interesanta, exact ca un vorbitor nativ?

Alternative la ”How are you”?

Instead of using ”How are you?”,  you can use many other more interesting alternatives, such as:

In loc de ”How are you?” poti folosi alternative interesante, precum:

• How are you doing?
• How have you been?

If you use ”How have you been?”, then, You want to know how the person has been recently. You can use this to your parents or your boss. So, you can ask your parents how they have been, especially if you haven’t seen them for a long time.

Daca folosesti: ”How have you been?”, inseamna ca vrei sa stii ce mai face persoana respectiva, ce a mai facut in ultimul timp. Poti folosi aceasta formula cu parintii tai, cu seful, sefa ta etc. Poti sa ii intrebi pe parintii tai ce mai fac, asa, mai ales daca nu i-ai mai vazut demult.

O alta intrebare interesanta pe care o poti folosi in loc de ”How are you?”, este:

• How’s it going? (This is more relaxed and informal when you’re talking to friends.)

”How’s it going? ” este o intrebare pe care o poti folosi cu prietenii. Poti introduce intrebarea folosind pe ”alright”:

• Alright … how’s it going?

Alte intrebari, la fel de interesante pot fi:

• How is everything? or How’s everything with you?
• How are things?

Poti folosi aceste intrebari asa:

• How are things with your family?
• How are things with you guys?

Varianta folosita doar in limba vorbita este:

• How’s things? (This is used in informal spoken language.)

”How are things?” is the proper way to ask a question.

• How’s your day been?
• How’s your day going?
• How are things going? You can ask someone about work or home.
• What’s going on?

Poti raspunde. You can answer:

• Nothing much! Not much at all.

Poti spune. You can say:

• Hey, what’s going on? You been doing okay?

Este familiar, prietenesc. It’s informal.

A more formal way – how to ask how are you

• Are you well? Are you keeping well?

Este mai familiar, mai prietenesc. Nu-l folosi cu oameni mai in varsta! It’s more formal. Don’t use it with older people!

• What are you up to?
• What have you been up to? Very friendly.
• What’s up?

”What’s up?” is very relaxed, very informal. use when talking too your friends! Use it with close friends! Very informal. Don’t use it with older people!

• What’s new?
• What’s new with you?

Asking if they’ve been doing anything interesting.

• How are you feeling?

You can ask someone about their health. It shows that you’re familiar with that person. They can answer:

• I’m feeling great or not feeling so good.
• You alright? Alright?

This is very informal. It’s used only in the British English.

You can also say:

• You okay?
• Long time, no see!

Technically, it’s not grammatically correct but native speakers in Britain use it a lot. So, if native speakers use it, you can use it.

How to answer the question: How are You doing? How do you reply to ”How are you doing?

Cum raspunzi la intrebarea: How are you doing?

”I’m fine” is pretty overused and boring. I wouldn’t use it. Native speakers don’t use it.

They don’t use it, so why would you use it?  If you want to sound like a native, don’t say: ”I’m fine.” You can say.

• ”I’m well.” or ”I’m doing well”.

”I’m good.” is another way to say it and it is Okay, as long as you aren’t directly referring to your health.

Some people say that ”I’m good” is not grammatically correct. Native speakers use it. If you use, it’s okay. However, don’t say:

Be good or do good?

”I’m doing good.” That is wrong.

You can say:

• ”I’m pretty good.”

or,  if you want to sound better, you can say:

• ”I’m pretty well.”

(”Pretty” means ”fairly”)

You can use ”quite” if you want to sound more formal.

You can say: I’m quite well.

• I’m really good. or I’m really well. or I’m doing really well. if you want.

These are easy and can be used by beginners as well. If you are doing very well and you are pretty good at English, you can say:

• I’ve never been better.
• Never been better.
• Better than I deserve.

How to ask ”How are you” when you are okay?

What do you say if you are neither good nor bad? You can say:

• Can’t complain.
• Not bad, thanks. or Not too bad, thanks!
• I’m alright. or I’m okay.
• I’ve been better. The same as, Not the best.
• Not too bad.It depends on the tone of voice.
• Could be better. or Could be worse.
• Same old, same old.
• Good enough.

How to say answer to How are you doing when you are talking to friends?

• Better now that I’m talking to you.

Here’s one you can use with friends and people you know very well. Don’t use it with strangers!

• I’m not going to lie, I’m not doing well.
• I’m struggling a bit.
• I feel terrible.

Or if you are not very well, you’re sick. You can say:

• I’m under the weather. ( If you are or feel under the weather, you are or feel ill.)
• I’m snowed under. (If you are snowed under, it means you are really busy. That is, you are really busy and completely under pressure.)
• I’m not having an easy time at the moment.

Now, if you want to be polite, you can ask back:

• How about you? or Yourself?

How to ask how are you and reply to the same question in English?

Foarte Important! Vezi si cum poti spune in Engleza, ”Nu stiu”, ”I don’t know”, fara sa spui ”I don’t know”!

We’re Romanians and just like the Brits, we overuse negative questions and answers. But, what are you going to do? Ce sa faci?

I hope you can ask better questions and give better answers now. Subscribe to my You Tube Channel: Clubul de Engleza, if you want to learn Real English!