Alternative Ways to Say “How are you?” in English (video included)

This is a great, informal way to say hello to someone you already know. It also helps spark a conversation, so you aren’t left standing awkward after the initial greeting. It means hello, but it also means, tell me what’s currently going on in your life.

Typical responses include: Nothing / Not much / Not much man (if you’re talking to younger males)

Now remember, just because you say not much or nothing, it doesn’t actually mean not much, or nothing is happening in your life. You probably have a million things going on in your life. It’s just a light way to start a conversation.

This is another great and informal way to say hi to someone you know. It’s another variation of What’s going on? And it’s asking for any ‘new’ life updates from your friend.

Typical responses include: Nothing & Not much. However, you could also include any new pieces of information.

Example: What’s new?

Response: Not much. I just saw that new Star Wars movie though. Have you seen it yet?

A relatively recent addition to the How are you? family. What’s up? is very informal and usually only used with friends and close colleagues. Be careful about using this in formal situations.

Just as the others, it simply means hi!

Typical responses include: This one, like the others, doesn’t really require much of a response. Usually a nothing much or not much will do.

Often people will often response with one of the previous responses followed by what they’re doing immediately in the moment.

Example: What’s up?

Response: Not much! Just hanging out right now and watching some T.V. What are you up to?

This greeting is often used after we haven’t seen someone in a little while. We wouldn’t use this if we just saw the person in the past couple of days. But if it has been a week or longer since you have seen them, feel free to try this one out.

Typical responses include: I’m good. I’ve been good. I’ve been alright. Pretty good and you?

This is another casual way to say hello to someone you’ve met before. You don’t really want to know everything that they’re doing, but you want to know how everything is in general.

Typical response may include: Great. Really good. Not bad, etc.

This is a classic in naturally flowing English. Well this is considered a little bit more formal; you can use this greeting for almost anyone and any situation, except for maybe the most formal situations.

It is more a question of hello and some new life updates that you’re looking for.

Common responses include: It’s going great. It’s going well. Not bad. Could be better.

No, you aren’t asking them about their health. It’s just another casual introduction. However, this one requires a little bit of work with your intonation. Remember to make a dip with your intonation and end your voice on a high note to have the desired effect.

Typical responses may include: Yeah, I’m good. I’m great. Doing fine, what about you?

This is one of the most informal ways to say How are you? in English. It’s also one of the most popular. It’s short and to the point. It doesn’t waste any time getting into the conversation.

This is great for people you know really well.

Note: If you say hey man, make sure you’re saying it to a younger male. It wouldn’t sound too great if you asked this of your older professor or boss.

Typical responses include: Hey, how’s it going? Hey, what’s up? Hey, what’s new?

This one can be used in both informal and formal settings. It doesn’t require a long response but it’s a nice way to ask someone whether their entire day has been good or bad up to this point.

Typical responses include: It’s going well. Great. Couldn’t be better!

This is a classic way to greet someone. And as you can already tell, it’s after you haven’t seen them for a while.

Here you’re not only looking for life updates, but it will usually be followed by one of the other greetings we studied previously. This helps make it sound more natural and to become more precise as to what you’re asking.