Practical English Greetings and Responses in Everyday life
welcome back to our weekly live stream
my name is Alisha and today we’re going
to talk about quick responses to
everyday greeting so today is going to
be lots of phrases that you can use to
quickly respond to very common questions
so the idea is you don’t have to think
so much about these so today I’m going
to cover very quick greetings very basic
greetings like what’s up how are you
how’s it going then we’re going to talk
about some like greetings where you want
to give details sometimes and then
finally we’ll talk about greetings
asking about your future plans
so please as you join live please make
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have free stuff for you as always then
we’re going to talk as I said about
quick responses to everyday greetings
so I’m going to share the video and then
I’m going to begin the lesson today I’m
going to talk a lot about some sample
patterns that you can use to reply to
these greetings but if you have a
greeting or sorry if you have a response
that you like to use or if you have a
question about a response you can send
that in the chat and we can talk about
it and see if it’s appropriate or not so
all right I have jarred the video so I
will now begin the lesson okay so let’s
begin today’s lesson by talking about
quick
greetings really quick greetings so the
very first one I want to talk about is
what’s up what’s up so very simple very
common greeting in American English
what’s up what’s up is a little more
casual than how are you so how do you
respond to what’s up respond to what’s
up with one of these usually we respond
with not much you not much you at native
speed sounds like how much you so this
is very very casual not much you sounds
like no much you question mark at the
end if you like just respond with the
same question what’s up what’s up you
can totally do that no problem
hey what’s up hey what’s up totally
natural just reply with the same thing
if you can’t remember not much you just
say the same thing in return to the
other person what’s up hey what’s up
fine totally fine totally natural to do
that
third ask a different question how is it
going how is it going so we’ll talk
about this in just a moment hey what’s
up hey how’s it going hey how’s it going
so this how’s it going this is the
reduced form of how is this house is how
is it going how is it going but we do
not say how is it going it’s very
unnatural so how’s it going how’s it
going is another way to say how are you
so it it in this sentence how is it
going means how is your life going how
like are the things in your life right
now how are you doing this is another
way to ask this question
so do you quickly respond to what’s up
use one of these so what’s up not much
you what’s up what’s up
totally fine or what’s up hey how’s it
going totally good to use all of these
so these are easy to remember just train
like as I said just three of these so
that you can practice them quickly okay
let’s go to the next set of just super
super quick greetings so first let’s
take a look at these greetings they are
how are you how is it going which I just
talked about here and how are things so
how are you I think many of you know how
are you and how is it going as I just
said how’s it going means like how is
your life going how is your life doing
and how are things how are things so
this question this things means like
things in your life how are the like
how’s your family how’s school how’s
work how’s everything so all of those
things how are they how are they how are
things so these all mean how is your
life right now how are you so it but
it’s a very small just greeting question
so at native speed this sounds like hey
how are you how’s it going how are
things so how do we answer these
questions
of course with how are you you can
respond with good great and so on but I
want to talk a little bit about maybe a
few more ways to answer this that maybe
we don’t see so often in textbooks so
let’s take a look first yeah good yeah
good so when you when you say this as a
response don’t use like downward
intonation I would say use upward
intonation to show that you are good so
for example how are you yeah good yeah
good so there’s that pause yeah good not
like yeah good like that gives the wrong
impression so maybe you want to like
sound kind of sad but you want to use
good it’s kind of strange you could do
that but yeah good yeah or yeah I’m good
is also okay to use another so these are
all answers to these questions another
one you can use is I’m all right I’m all
right
so again basically the same level as
yeah good so how are you or how’s it
going I’m all right that’s usually the
intonation we use how’s it going I’m all
right I’m all right so all right is kind
of like fine it’s like saying I’m fine
so it just sounds a little more friendly
like a little more casual
how are you alright that’s and I I feel
like personally I usually do this motion
like I’m alright I’m cool I’m good so
I’m alright point don’t forget this
I’m mmm that I am the I am reduces to
I’m so not I alright I see that in
comments a lot I’m all right I’m all
right I’m all right that’s how we
pronounce it at native speed and in
regular intonation okay
next one is not bad not bad so when we
say not bad we usually say nothing not
bad so kind of huh that’s sort of the
sound of it that’s sort of the rhythm so
how are you not bad again this sort of
I’m not bad so we use not bad to mean
like I’m not great but again I’m not bad
either it’s just sort of so-so but so so
we don’t use that much and everyday
conversation I’ll tell you a little a
couple other ones you can use instead of
so-so okay the next one is pretty good
pretty good when we say when we respond
with pretty good for example how’s it
going and pretty good pretty good so we
usually have this sort of like um yeah
there’s sort of like a an agreement
phrase or something like that yeah
uh-huh uh to show we heard the other
person so how’s it going yeah pretty
good I’m pretty good you could say - I’m
pretty good so again not great not bad
but just alright pretty good so these
all mean about the same thing you can
choose whichever you prefer here this
one same old same old
and yes we repeat it same old same old
two times there so this expression
emphasizes that nothing has changed so
we are doing the same old things or our
life it’s like the same old life the
same old same old kind of thing so
nothing special nothing bad just same
old same old so when we reply we sound
like how’s it going same old same old
that’s really what it sounds like same
old same old same old same old so up and
then down not same old same old sounds
really strange same old same old so make
sure your voice moves down when you
reply with this how’s it going same old
same old
or how are things the same old same old
so this sounds very natural when nothing
is super special you have nothing really
exciting to report just kind of the same
as usual
is the feel here okay next one we’re
getting into these are kind of more
negative responses so right here this
group this group it’s a bit yeah I think
thank you I think we could see all of
these these responses are a little bit
on the negative side they have kind of a
negative feel about them so if you use
these responses you will probably be
asked a question like you might want to
give some more information for example
how are things not so great not so great
so when we say not-so-great it sounds
like hey how are things not so great not
so great
so it has that downward feel to it not
so great or I’m not so great it’s also
okay to use not so great so so great is
a good thing but I’m not so great so the
level is like down here in other words
it’s kind of bad but we don’t say kind
of bad I’m kind of bad we say not so
great I’m not so great I’m not so great
another one this one’s very useful is
it’s hard to see here it is a bit sick a
bit sick or you can change bits so bits
bi t means little little like I said
this today when I came in like our
control just said how are you today and
I said I think I’m a little sick or I
think I’m getting sick maybe I’m getting
sick so if you feel like oh maybe I’m
catching a cold or I’m getting sick you
can say I’m a bit sick I’m a bit sick so
this is kind of like oh I’m not so good
so why in this case I’m a bit sick I’m a
little sick so not so great I’m a bit
sick this one this is maybe the most
interesting response on this
it is hanging in there hanging in there
hanging in there
here it’s maybe hard to see the spelling
this is H ange1 ' here hang in hang in
this is cuz because um this is like the
short form the casual form of hanging in
there hanging in there hanging in there
means I’m doing my best like something
is difficult for me but I’m still trying
my best so this again sounds like you’re
in a challenging period of your life I’m
hanging in there something is difficult
for me but I’m trying a lot I’m hanging
in there so maybe you have lots of work
to do
we’re lots of stress sir you haven’t
been sleeping a lot recently you feel
tired you can say I’m hanging in there
so hey how are you I’m hanging in there
hanging in there
hanging in there someone in the chat
said a bit no this sorry the G the G
connected here this should be a bit sick
a bit sick that’s what it says on the
board yes I see okay the G connected I’m
sorry so these are responses
oh one more you can use this last one
may be hard to see again this last one
is exhausted the pronunciation is
exhausted not X husted but exhausted
like eggs you can think of the
pronunciation like eggs the food so
exhausted exhausted means very very
tired
so you can say I’m tired I’m pretty
tired also I’ve learned that in America
in American English we use the word
quite to mean very so you can say I’m
pretty tired or I’m quite tired if you
really want to emphasize you’re very
very tired you can say exhausted
exhausted I’m exhausted so in response
how’s it going I’m exhausted or how are
things
exhausted so really super super tired
but again if you use one of these like
negative responses you probably should
be prepared to give some more
information okay so these are our quick
greetings after this we’re going to
practice detailed some some like detail
related questions so let’s take one
short break and then we will come back
so I Wow there are lots of people
watching cool excellent I want to share
a couple of the free PDF things that you
can find from the link below the video
on YouTube or above the video on
Facebook so today we’re talking are we
gonna use the webcam today we’re talking
about like quick responses to greetings
so these I picked a couple of PDFs I
thought would be useful the first this
is the back-to-school PDF but I always
like to share the back these are
expressions you can use in class yes but
today’s lesson is something you can
definitely use with your classmates and
with your teachers as well so today’s
lesson you can use at school for sure
the other one that I chose was this one
the family and relatives one so these
are also greetings you can use and some
other phrases here you can use with your
family members with your relatives
people in your neighborhood and so on so
these are just a couple of examples of
the PDFs that we have for free you can
find them from the link below the video
on youtube or above the video on
Facebook if you’re watching on Instagram
please check a YouTube or Facebook also
I cannot see your comments live uh hi
Victor from Guadalajara one of our
members thanks for joining us okay uh
yeah please check out the PDFs I will
try to show a couple more a bit later in
today’s lesson okie dokie so with that
let’s continue on to part two of today’s
topic if you’re just joining today we’re
talking about quick responses to
everyday greetings
we’re going to talk about like more
detail related questions now so if you
have not yet please make sure to like
and share the video so other people can
find it
alrighty let’s go to part two of today’s
lesson I’m trying to check the chat
Kayla on Facebook said Ken yo man be
used when talking to a woman it depends
on it depends on the women for me I
don’t mind like I prefer to speak kind
of more roughly like on this channel I’m
very like maybe polite and proper but
when I’m speaking with my friends I
prefer to be kind of silly and like like
speak more roughly so in my case that’s
fine but you have to kind of know the
person before you use something like yo
man what’s up like giving the really
rough casual ways of speaking so give it
a little time to understand that person
okay thanks for the question I will try
to check your other questions but the
chat is very busy today
let’s try to I’m trying to keep things
going anyway let’s move on to part two
for today part two for today is about
detailed greetings I’ll go to this side
it’s easier to see yes okay I’m
detailing greetings so what I mean by
detailed greetings is that you you need
to think a little bit more about what
you want to say but there are generally
some very common patterns that you can
use to reply to these questions so first
let’s take a look at these two questions
they are very similar very similar first
one is how is your day or how’s your
week this we saw this house in part one
of today’s lesson yeah house is how is
so how’s your day how’s your week this
is a present tense question how is your
day how is your day how is your week
this greeting you can say to your
coworker to your classmate to your
friend how is your day today or how is
your week this
week so this is the present tense
question this question how was your
weekend or maybe how was your day how
was your week whatever this is a past
tense question so how is how was how was
your day how was your weekend and so on
in fast speech though they sound
extremely it’s similar so a native speed
I say how’s your day how’s your week and
this sounds like how’s your weekend
they sound like almost exactly the same
so we know which question it is based on
the point in the week and the point in
the day so you need to use context to
understand is this a like past question
is this a present question so think a
little bit about the context here so to
answer how do we answer you can use
these answers very very quick just
adjective answers to both of these
questions so how’s your day good fine
how’s your day busy so busy I have a lot
to do how was your week slow slow
this word slow I know we practice slow
for like something that travels at like
a not fast pace but slow for a schedule
means I don’t have a lot to do I don’t
have a lot to do how was your week slow
so maybe like you don’t have a lot of
work that week or you don’t have tests
or you don’t have any homework to do or
you’re not seeing many people you can
say it’s slow my week is slow or my week
was slow so this does not mean like pace
length of movement it means you don’t
have a lot to do slow this one
all right the same all right that we had
so how’s your day that’s alright it’s
alright so not bad not great just okay
it’s alright you can use okay so how’s
your name okay how’s your week okay you
can use these two as well these two are
very you
full because depending on your
intonation you can like make a different
impression haenam well thanks very much
for that appreciate it on super chat
awesome um so these two are crazy and
unbelievable crazy and unbelievable so
depending on your intonation you can
create a positive or a negative feeling
with these words so if someone says how
was your day or how was your week how
was your weekend you can say crazy and
it sounds like it was really exciting or
if you say how was your weekend and you
say crazy it sounds negative you can use
just your voice to communicate different
things with the same word same thing
with this one unbelievable unbelievable
so unbelievable this means it’s
something I cannot believe I cannot
believe something that is unbelievable
that was unbelievable so again this word
you can change the meaning with your
voice how was your weekend
unbelievable sounds excited and mildly
like happy or how was your weekend
unbelievable like it’s really like it
was so bad you can’t believe it so these
two can be quite useful of course if you
use a difficult to understand intonation
the other person might not understand so
you can use these in a couple different
ways and of course finish
oops sorry finish with you or how about
you so don’t just wait for the question
ask them the question - so how was your
weekend it was alright how about you how
about yours as well so please make sure
to ask the question in return - how was
your weekend alright how was your day
good my day today how’s your day my day
how’s your day control desk
and my day is alright
warm warm busy black streams are always
busy very busy it is okay good so let’s
continue now to a more detailed pattern
to think about what did you get up to
last weekend longer question yes so
maybe a lot of you know what did you do
last weekend what did you do last
weekend lots of at least American
English speakers will use a pattern like
this what did you get up to last weekend
at native speed this sounds like once
you get up to last weekend what gym
would you get up to last weekend so this
what did you sounds like uh what Jeff
maybe not even that T what Jeff whatcha
let’s make this a deal sounds like it we
cannot spell it like this we can’t spell
it like this so I’ve spelled that WH adj
a we do not use the spelling please do
not use the spelling in writing but this
is the way it’s pronounced kind of so
what did you becomes whatcha whatcha
what you get up to last weekend what did
you do last weekend so to reply to this
you need to use probably a past tense
pattern so I’ve chosen just some very
common verbs that we use to reply to
this one so I went to I went to I went
to the movies I went to the beach I went
to a different city I went to the
symphony I went to a club I went to a
bar I went to a pizza parlor whatever so
any place I went to something something
another verb you can use in past tense
is I ate I ate so this is for food if
you like food if you’re like me and you
want to talk about something you ate use
this pattern I ate pizza
I ate sushi I ate ramen I had Thai food
I
turkish food i eat a kebab whatever I
ate plus your food I ate a
michelin-starred meal at a hotel or like
I ate some bad fish whatever you can
talk about the thing you ate just with
this pattern ih+
your food another common activity I saw
I saw I saw my friends I saw a movie I
saw a baseball game I saw a basketball
game I saw an artist live in concert so
something you saw with your eyes you can
use this past tense pattern to report
that I saw this thing I saw this finally
I had I had this is good for an event so
a party this could be like a wedding it
could be a birthday it could be some
other kind of gathering so like I had a
birthday party for my friends or I had a
big meeting this weekend or I had a
wedding to go to
I had an anniversary event to go to so
something that’s kind of like an event
or a gathering you can use I had to
describe that Anna on YouTube says can I
use I watch yeah you can if you use
watched make sure it’s for something
that like you focused your eyes on so
there’s a difference between see and
watch we have a video about it on the
channel but yes you can use watch you
could say something like I watched my
favorite TV show or I watched ABC TV
show that’s totally fine I watched a
movie yeah someone on facebook says can
I say I saw the movie say I saw a movie
I saw a movie or I saw ABC movie so say
specifically which movie lots of good
examples coming in I ate pizza last week
good I am eating sushi so if you want to
talk about something you’re doing now
it’s a little different than this path
okay someone says I ate crocodile Wow
someone says I saw a ghost last week I
gosh the comments section okay good I
don’t see other examples Cocodrilo says
oh that’s good good so let’s finish this
part with this group of responses so if
you did nothing how do you explain that
like you’ve had no plans this happened
to me like last week I didn’t do
anything it’s not it was not good so if
you didn’t do anything you can reply
with one of these example sentences I
didn’t do much I didn’t do much so that
means maybe like you went to the
supermarket or maybe you watch some TV
but nothing special you can communicate
that with I didn’t do much at native
speed I didn’t do much so what did you
get up to you last weekend no I didn’t
do much that’s how we would say it in a
real conversation second I didn’t do
anything I didn’t do anything you stayed
in the house and maybe stayed in your
pajamas and you ate pizza that’s fine
like no judgment there but you didn’t
have anything planned it was just you
didn’t do anything at all you can say
this literally I didn’t do anything I
didn’t do anything
finally just stayed at home I just
stayed at home so what did you do last
weekend or what you get up to last
weekend I just stayed at home I just
stayed at home so again I did not leave
my house or this that this doesn’t mean
like I never left my house
it just means mainly I was in my home
maybe you went like to the supermarket
or to a coffee shop or something but I
just stayed at home can I use I didn’t
do nothing no you cannot it is not
grammatically correct I didn’t do
anything
didn’t do anything I am NOT we cannot
use ement no I’m not is the reduced form
of I am NOT I am NOT is I’m not I’m not
can you say Coco do you again
someone’s got onto our game control this
Coco three loads and even side joke we
have here in the studio okay let’s go to
the last part of today’s lesson then
that was part two some more detailed
greetings so I’m going to finish today’s
lesson oh my gosh it’s already thirty
with talking about future plans so I
guess I will skip showing some more PDFs
until the end let’s finish today’s
lesson last question for today is just
this future tense question asking about
someone’s future plans as a greeting so
this is very common at the office any
plans for the weekend
any plans for the weekend how do you
answer this you can say nothing much
nothing much like no big plans nothing
much or you can say I’m gonna go to I’m
gonna this is going to so use this to
mean going to in the same way as we
talked about this one a place I went to
past tense for future tense I’m gonna go
to I’m gonna go to a baseball game I’m
gonna go to a club I’m gonna go to a bar
I’m gonna go to my English lesson I’m
gonna go to the yoga studio I’m gonna go
to the dentist so whatever place I’m
gonna go to this one I might see I might
see I might see means you’re not 100%
sure yet you don’t know 100% I might see
so in this case I have the verb see here
you can change the verb so like I might
go I might watch I might do in this case
I have see you can change the verb of
course I might see a friend I might see
a movie I might see a baseball game so
you’re not 100%
sure yet this one I think I’ll check out
I think I’ll check out here notice Isle
this is the reduced form of I will so I
will becomes Isle I think I’ll check out
something we use this one I think I’ll
check out because we’re not 100% sure
this one I’m going I’m going
oh sorry I’m gonna go - I’m gonna go -
it’s like I’ve decided I’m gonna go to
the Art Museum I’m gonna go to the
aquarium this one I think I’ll check out
is less sure like I think I’ll check out
the art museum or I think I’ll check out
the aquarium so the level of certainty
is lower we’re not quite so sure there I
think I’ll check out the Art Museum so
if you’re really sure I’m gonna go -
you’re not sure I think I’ll check out
something like that I wanna I wanna
wanna is the reduced form of want to
want to something you want to do but
maybe you don’t have a plan for it yet
so I want to go to the aquarium or I
want to go listen to some music this
weekend or I want to eat delicious food
but maybe you don’t have a plan you just
want to talk about something you want to
do next I’m planning to I’m planning to
in the progressive form so I’m planning
to plus a verb in the infinitive form
I’m planning to go to a baseball game
I’m planning to meet with my friends for
drinks I’m planning to go to the beach
I’m planning to swim in a lake I’m
planning to whatever so you can make
your plans very clear with this
expression almost done I haven’t decided
yet I have taught this phrase to so many
students over the years this I haven’t
decided yet or I dunno yet so I don’t
know I don’t know I don’t know means I
don’t know I don’t know and this yet yet
so this is like I don’t know at this
time
I will decide later that’s what this
means I haven’t decided yet I haven’t
decided yet more casually I don’t know
yet I don’t know and you can follow this
with the question got any ideas
got any ideas this is the more casual
version of do you have any ideas hmm I
don’t know yet do you have any ideas at
native pace it sounds like that so I
said do you have do you have any ideas
or you can use got any ideas got any
ideas do you have any ideas so when you
don’t have any clues when you don’t have
any ideas for your weekend you can ask
someone I don’t know what are you gonna
do so you can you can ask that question
to what are you gonna do as well
alrighty that is everything for today’s
lesson I will show PDFs on should I use
the webcam again no I don’t think so
okay
so we’ll finish there for today’s lesson
that was a lot that was a lot of good
example sentences from all of you though
now it’s awesome so I have to finish up
but as always lets will finish cool well
Wow we had like records of viewers on
Facebook that’s awesome thank you to
everybody watching today there’s so many
people who join that was super cool
thanks for sending all of your examples
I have to finish unfortunately this was
very fun but please don’t forget to
check out the link below the video on
youtube if you’re watching on youtube or
if you’re watching on facebook you can
download all of these free PDFs these
have vocabulary and on the back I always
like to show in the back it’s harder to
see there are lots of phrases that you
can use for different situations I know
many of you are studying for work this
is the business one so check these out
these aren’t free you need an account
that English class 101.com
you can get it for free though so please
log in there to get your good stuff if
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we have to finish there for today though
so next week we’ll be back next week’s
topic is something I how to learn new
vocabulary yes I forgot how to learn new
English vocabulary I’m going to talk
about some strategies you can use in
your studies to learn new vocabulary and
to help it like stick in your head a bit
so please join us again next week we’ll
be here 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
on Wednesday that is New York City time
please join us August 14th Wednesday
August 14th to look at a lesson about
how to learn new English vocabulary so
thank you so much to everybody for
liking and sharing the video we really
appreciate it
enjoy your week enjoy your weekend and
we will see you again next time bye bye
you