 鲜花( 101)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
本帖最后由 图书馆 于 2015-11-2 20:53 编辑 ; X8 E; Q2 P! i! }, J4 o
4 H3 p- C$ ~' `5 e& I
How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters
4 |: z& I! ]% B: N# K- e& k) V: X# K- v0 z9 H" y" S) Q; L1 \
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.. K! |8 x2 h- p7 O" m
2 F m+ X4 g9 Z6 t) A+ e! O
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?"
# l6 F5 S G+ {+ T2 C3 g& M( z9 _6 A
How are you?. q8 A& q: N0 d. w9 [
Fine.9 y( D. ]; m) j' N2 X6 X9 I
8 Q) g$ P4 y! p. G8 l/ a
This 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.
! b; W( z' P8 `2 |0 n
7 }( ?, |% V" u7 WNot bad.; F4 Z( f$ X1 K9 m9 j
5 Y% y& z$ B+ z8 a% O% ]; dThis is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".+ C7 Y0 ~& J0 f7 ~% m
& K- V: i1 Z2 l; Y2 L/ }
Fine, thanks.
6 b6 d. i: y) J: }2 h! k# B1 h: {/ }! G w0 x% @; K1 T
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.
. f4 F. ^' [+ P) P' N/ t8 L! ^% B2 ~, l% P3 p
Very well, thanks.0 g1 m+ ]# u$ }2 C/ C
. { X. p) Z2 F3 i" X
A 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.) Y2 M, }) F4 `- h# l3 y7 ?/ f
0 F1 ^5 ^, A8 U \; k- k
Pretty good.5 f/ u6 X7 f" F" U5 ^
- k3 j" X+ }7 s; XIf you don't care as much about grammar, you can answer "Good" or "Pretty good". It's more common and much, much more casual.
& U# z! |$ B) k) w1 f$ q# ]7 ]0 }
/ |* t! u$ ]. {7 DGreat! How are you doing?" [" [% _9 c: R, j( A' b/ Y n
7 u1 Z( B6 y9 W' I1 UThis 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.4 |& B" P# @ e! P6 A9 X3 Q, V
5 o [8 ?9 m I9 o
I'm hanging in there.
; `+ a2 O, W+ u7 i, Z& b
( \$ C- d$ K' F3 g IThis answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day./ G! z+ ]9 c/ s; k6 Y* f0 r
- r' l3 z$ Q. L" I# M. m4 v3 w" m8 Y$ D
I've been better.$ F8 G- Q( D1 b& `7 T
5 p' h1 D7 x8 D% _, u
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:
, u# ^2 r4 ?0 ^
2 o7 ~5 e! m, X2 X3 s1 l# J$ nA: How are you?
; S1 H, i" a2 y% d0 G
0 B9 L! d; {6 }, GB: I've been better. G) x+ T# k' C
. y2 ^5 A7 b% m1 u; q
A: What's wrong?0 a9 _9 o2 C5 o9 J
' k( L+ U* T/ w/ i) c1 TB: I just found out that I'm being laid off.8 O& k* H2 D" S3 s% F0 `) [# T$ z$ z' j7 M
( T. C$ D8 y. X$ z+ H1 G- d5 q1 u9 O' PHow's it going?9 f6 R5 l# s0 i# l) c; N
This question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.; E, h- d' q- X1 T1 }. o
& X2 N. [* n/ k$ b$ W- M6 P" w
Here's another answer that will also work for "How's it going", but not for "How are you?"4 l7 I7 h! K4 v+ P2 k7 Y
5 S) L$ r+ v4 P: R, z; |1 z
It's going well.
& b! N2 m. \$ Z6 x) Z9 j( `3 y; [ h4 D1 D* Z. P- h
This is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while.
& {! j, Z6 o4 _* R
: {, u: G+ [: E( nWhat's up?- M: t7 X: R; t I' g& `9 M
This 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:* j+ X. M+ K) j# t+ p7 o5 [
8 n5 K) ?6 x% a9 M# wNothing much.1 Q ~/ W; T$ |. O: L- G
{1 R2 g& O( A4 H$ KThis 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."# \ Y3 z( S7 c& J7 w9 w
9 j4 z+ r( E' @! V& l2 t9 Y( c1 y8 P
Not a lot.
; ?1 O6 T+ d8 v1 w) Y1 _. W6 H0 ~) H# o+ j2 h- J/ p
This is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.
~, F7 ]4 c) D& s' p8 s
# D, ?+ m, L7 y5 \Nothing.8 Q4 _7 @" V) c1 P) u2 }: C
; ]9 C" _, [1 R& p. n' [This is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.
4 b: Y& I3 t# N8 O
9 x1 M9 T) ~, U) xOh, just the usual.0 G2 d' `* `. ~- k4 Q8 O0 L; L
! J- Q! J3 o9 G. i) y4 c5 lAnswer this way if you do mostly the same things each day./ V' }8 r. \) g2 N7 N
3 V. T" W, B$ tJust the same old same old." j# r. Q- I, M" v
4 U3 n4 m; `' g- e
This phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it.# X- y+ {5 i' E1 _( ^
2 R9 F. [* x3 u l3 R0 V) [Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff!
8 |3 o7 ^3 E. T5 O( H
- r/ Y! B( Q; `& Y9 l0 y/ s: uYou can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.$ q* o0 w* ?# A9 M" `- D# x
$ M; s* @; K% h' O
What's happening?
! i" M6 ?7 F. v* JThis question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.
- I! n' [ l3 L" {3 K1 Y) l2 ]7 f: l4 J5 {6 {
3 @6 f" Q, B p+ T |
|