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本帖最后由 图书馆 于 2015-11-2 20:53 编辑
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How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters
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# e. X) m4 H1 u3 U6 {0 ]# W5 aThere 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.
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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?"( @# @& [; {- I/ Y( M& t% o1 \
9 g Y5 u! m1 }0 p" G" e/ \How are you?
d3 }9 ^" L9 i: F2 G/ HFine.
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j" m9 ~3 }# w4 `& KThis 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./ H$ J) T$ W. q6 ?$ z/ y
2 g8 A! y0 g4 F8 rNot bad.) v l2 ]# ^- ~* c# w8 g9 G
( p4 }8 N! u ~& o' n* ^" @This is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".
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5 Z: c2 R0 Y7 R% g+ vFine, thanks.
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6 u1 _/ V8 w; w* @0 [) ?7 fThis answer is formal. You might answer this way if someone you don't know, like a waiter at a restaurant, asks how you are.- b( d# ~& R9 P3 r0 g4 _( b
/ w9 s7 V1 ^% J9 X1 K* vVery well, thanks.+ {: {4 l) a+ a! w( U4 {! M! n
# d& E0 Y* |; {$ e1 ]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.! ~! F6 ]/ \/ Z# G% [9 n, u+ A
- B0 s+ H9 Y! t; K; n. @( e7 q, ~Pretty good.2 Y; e- p: x# {) \' z3 n( T* }% f
) h0 g" p0 _8 X8 ]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?! z" D3 L& v9 `& a; `- r& A
% v" e4 r0 m* N @2 m, L$ qThis 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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! j. n0 p2 e5 {$ oI'm hanging in there.
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- Q$ e$ y6 r3 D5 m4 k0 w) PThis answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day.% G1 [" X" `' x. k
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I've been better.4 v& i2 U3 b% l9 m
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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:7 m- R) Z( e, r$ _5 V+ M
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A: How are you?
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B: I've been better.4 Z1 x" C( w* q* q/ c4 ?$ a
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A: What's wrong?, Y7 h8 f- D* [+ S5 N, t3 v2 W
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B: I just found out that I'm being laid off.
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How's it going?! I( _5 B! Z3 a/ v! V" }* {5 ]
This question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well., J2 }) G4 J- R- b( [. K
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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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' B% n7 f* \& X7 v) hIt's going well. ) @! @* E2 q& C5 B3 I8 w' J
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This is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while. % i! P. S1 _" y; @, M' f
& H; j; X6 Z- c* T2 F& Z$ pWhat's up?
( e' }# w, s) ^" m( V; z1 RThis 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:9 V" {+ j7 ?+ |
( i! ~. e* Y8 S: t. n) tNothing much.
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9 Q) I+ Y7 @ H H2 dThis 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.") {1 i% c( Q8 P1 y) l, K
& p( n* T) j7 h" [Not a lot.$ v7 [' d% ]6 m7 t. X I
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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.0 f9 ?7 y$ d- W& d7 x5 F" G0 S
# n* M( ~5 e9 v1 q7 |( uNothing.
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This is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.
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Oh, just the usual.
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Answer this way if you do mostly the same things each day.) @7 q" h/ ]- n u, b4 L0 P
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Just the same old same old.
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& q; l& J( {# K/ E. N- C7 F" i' m. CThis phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it., l- e- x: g, \1 |; a5 Q( e( L; ~
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Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff!+ ]8 b$ E+ v6 E2 \
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You can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.: Z8 j5 W# ?7 Y8 |$ K
- F: z2 a3 a+ m6 q( W% I$ x3 dWhat's happening?
: \" M( u+ q) ^9 ]) gThis question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.
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