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本帖最后由 图书馆 于 2015-11-2 20:53 编辑 |( v: U8 r' B7 Q/ S. l
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How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters
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There are a few questions that English speakers ask at the beginning of a conversation. These questions are simple tools to find out if there are any interesting topics to discuss.& ^, p$ H! w8 E: _- i
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You've certainly heard these questions, but you might be confused about how to answer. Here's a list of common answers to the questions "How are you?", "How's it going?", "What's up?", and "What's happening?"2 n, d6 X5 U. T
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How are you?5 n% i2 v6 P' X& T- v1 d
Fine.
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, z3 c, l1 G6 K# lThis is a simple, straight answer. If you don't say anything else, though, it might be a signal that you don't want to continue the conversation.
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Not bad.
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0 e! W) c/ O' y2 J3 vThis is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".8 L" M% J; {6 l! c5 n8 N$ V
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Fine, thanks.' w- O1 N2 f4 [+ T- F
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This answer is formal. You might answer this way if someone you don't know, like a waiter at a restaurant, asks how you are.
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Very well, thanks.
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) \ e# C: a+ c7 n+ B& V* cA person who likes to be grammatically proper might answer this way. Technically, the question "How...?" should be answered with an adverb. However, a lot of English speakers don't know or care about this. The people who do are "by the books" types who insist on using grammatically correct language.
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Pretty good.
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If you don't care as much about grammar, you can answer "Good" or "Pretty good". It's more common and much, much more casual.
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Great! How are you doing?
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% Y" K0 Q, w" Y0 L- LThis is an enthusiastic, excited response. It's always good to ask a question back to the other person if you want to continue the conversation.
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* k Z. Y+ u4 H$ P- aI'm hanging in there.
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This answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day.
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I've been better.
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People usually give positive answers to the question "How are you?" If you give a negative answer like this one, it usually means that you want to tell the listener your sad story. So they'll usually ask what's wrong:
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2 m c, [1 \7 m2 ~A: How are you?
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. f, N8 H* L4 p8 QB: I've been better.
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A: What's wrong?+ ~) h" O L1 D) a0 t
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B: I just found out that I'm being laid off.
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. N! ]( R, I5 FHow's it going?
, |+ b2 I1 G0 V- U6 E- w, NThis question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.
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Here's another answer that will also work for "How's it going", but not for "How are you?"
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- K# I* P Z% K' B/ t4 CIt's going well. . F( H; s, H! e% z' s f" y4 T0 L4 ` A1 l
) d, \$ V4 p6 ?This is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while.
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: ~& i' V& i+ `+ c: w+ R- EWhat's up?
! }7 G* R4 F% r' z0 pThis question means "What's happening in your life?" But you don't have to answer honestly. If you don't want to start a long conversation, you can use one of these standard replies:
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. Z% y% l8 W n2 k5 N$ {* H" m3 U! hNothing much.
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6 i: K: s9 q$ H9 R5 y, ~This is the most common answer. You can follow it by sharing something interesting that's happening: "Nothing much. Just getting ready for Vanessa's graduation.", C1 e' o4 p/ W, y$ g+ ~
' T9 u6 @$ g0 B; j4 Z* [# C* wNot a lot.& g! g" m6 \8 _, k4 D0 E2 p( x* c
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This is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.2 J3 |& ~& b I$ X$ {& M
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Nothing./ h5 E0 y; W1 @8 j- s
# U8 _- c, m; `& @6 i0 WThis is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.% \6 ?# E# X2 V7 E- h
0 D7 A8 o. S3 r6 n) f) LOh, just the usual.
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Answer this way if you do mostly the same things each day.
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" |+ E/ W# ?( @1 y4 [Just the same old same old.
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This phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it." u- c, M4 Z. S- X- X+ M" _
0 Z# x) `% E4 i% `+ u" F' M( IOh gosh, all kinds of stuff!0 Y n1 P& a9 F* q
, z3 A# {# c4 U' LYou can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.
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" `+ g$ e2 r" J* H" DWhat's happening?# z7 }7 W+ l7 z
This question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.# [ S! X, U% G$ e" `
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