English speakers don’t always say Hello when they first met you. They may say different expressions, depending on how formal or casual the environment is. Learn the most common expressions that natives use to say Hello, so you won’t be suprised when someone says one of these lines to you in the future.

Greet someone

• Hi, how are you?
  This is a very common greeting. It’s used as both a formal and casual greeting. You can use this when you meeting someone for very the first time.  You are not expected to answer this with a long explanation, so you should make your response brief. If someone says this to you, you can simply respond with “Good. How are you?”

• How are you doing?
  This is a more casual way of asking “how are you.” It is used with people who you know well, and it invites the other person to tell you more about how they are. If someone says this to you, you can respond with “I’m doing well.”

• How’s it going?
  This is another casual way of asking “how are you.” Unlike how are you doing, which is asking about how you are in that moment, “how’s it going” is asking how you are in general. If someone says this to you, your answer can refer to anything interesting that happened to you since last time you spoke to that person.

• How are things?
  This is another casual way of asking “how are you,” but it is most often used to people that you already know. You can answer to this question by saying “good” or “not bad.” You can also share any interesting news about your life and then ask the person “how about you?”

• What’s up?
  You can say this to your good friends in a casual environment. Americans often say this phrase when they are greeting friends that they are very comfortable with. When you say this, don’t be afraid to speak very enthusiastically. Like “What’s up!!!!”

What’s the key to learning conversational English? It is having the right tools and content to help you learn. Check out the ELSA app, where you can practice speaking these phrases. ELSA will tell you which words you’ve mispronounced and give you advice on exactly what to do to correct your pronunciation. In the ELSA app, you will find these phrases along with 80 other popular phrases under the Topic “English Essentials.”

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