Full video

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Are you bored of answering how are you

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with the same answer every time? It's

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fine to say fine, thanks. But this video

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is for you if you want to take your

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English to the next level. Today you are

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going to learn how to answer how are you

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in advanced English. And as always, I've

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created a free PDF to go with this

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lesson. You can review everything you

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learn in this video. And I've also added

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a section on answering how are you in

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emails as it's slightly different as

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well as regional British slang. There is

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also a quiz in the PDF and a link to

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some secret exercises. If you'd like to

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download that, just click on the link in

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the description box or scan that QR code

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there. Enter your name and your email

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address. The PDF will arrive directly in

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your inbox. The link is in the

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description box or you can scan that QR

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code there. Now, before we get into

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answering how are you, let's talk about

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some different ways to ask this

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question. There are a lot, and there's

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nothing wrong with how are you. It's

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appropriate in pretty much any

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situation. But if you're trying to reach

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a C1 level in English, you need to add

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some more variety. So, let's see more

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ways to ask this question. You could

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ask, "How's it going? How are you

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doing?" Or, "How have you been?" Did you

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notice the contractions? How are often

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becomes how with the schwa at the end?

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How are you? And how have becomes how

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have. How have. You'll also hear this

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pronounced as one syllable. How. How

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have you been? Other common questions

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you'll often hear are how's life or

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how's life treating you? You'll also

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hear how are things or how's things.

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Now, how's things isn't grammatically

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correct because things is plural, but we

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say it a lot. These phrases just mean

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how are you or what's been happening in

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your life. You might also ask been up to

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much. This is more a question about what

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you've been doing. Notice the ellipsus

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in that sentence. We know who the

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subject is, so we can omit have you.

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You'll also hear you've been up to much

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with just have emitted. You'll hear been

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pronounced with the long e sound and

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been with the short i sound. Been up to

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much. Been up to much. Another informal

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way to ask how are you is all right. All

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right. This is very British. We're going

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to talk about responding in more detail

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in a moment, but the response to all

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right can simply be all right. It can be

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a greeting similar to hi. All right. All

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right. What's up can also be used as an

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informal greeting with people you know

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well, and you'll often hear it

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pronounced what's up. It can be

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shortened to sup. Asking what's up can

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also be interpreted as what's wrong when

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not used as a greeting. For example,

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what's up? You don't look your usual

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self. Now, on the other end of the

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spectrum in terms of formality, we

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have how do you do now? This is very

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formal and quite old-fashioned. It's

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actually a greeting and we use it when

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we meet someone for the first time. You

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can respond with the same words. I'm

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Lucy Simkins. How do you do? How do you

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do? I'm Mark Wright. Note that you're

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not very likely to hear this in everyday

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conversation anymore. Okay, now we've

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covered a lot of ways to ask how are

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you. Let's talk about how to respond to

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how are you. First, we need to talk

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about something that can confuse English

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learners. Sometimes when we ask someone

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how they are or how things are going, we

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don't really want an answer. We call

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this fhatic communication. This is

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language used for social communication

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rather than to give information or ask

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questions that require an answer. It can

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be really difficult to recognize fatic

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communication when you're learning

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English. You need to rely on context to

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know how to respond. For example, if

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you're at a conference and you meet a

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business associate you've only met once

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before, they might ask, "How's it

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going?" But they most likely won't

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expect a detailed answer. An appropriate

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response would be, "Fine, thanks. You

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you're not really exchanging any

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information." But if you bump into a

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close friend and they ask the same

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question, they probably really want to

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know. You might respond with, "Not bad,

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thanks. Actually, I just got a bit of

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good news." Blah blah blah blah blah.

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Usually, we answer fairly positively

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when someone asks how we are. Unless

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we're sure they want to hear about our

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troubles. Okay, we'll start with three

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of the most common ways to respond. We

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have I'm fine,

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thanks. I'm well, thanks. And this one

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is a little more formal and we often use

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it to refer to our health rather than

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giving a general answer. And I'm good,

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thanks. People sometimes say I'm good

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isn't correct, but it's very widely

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used. I use it. It's just considered a

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bit less formal than I'm fine. You'll

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also often hear these sentences without

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I'm fine, thanks. Good, thanks. This is

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another example of

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ellipsis. It's obvious who we're

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referring to. You will also hear people

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answer questions like how's it going? Or

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how have you been with yeah, good,

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thanks. Now, these aren't yes or no

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questions, but yeah is a really common

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filler word, and it's a way to quickly

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acknowledge the question. Finally, you

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will also hear I'm doing well or I'm

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doing great and I'm doing good. Now,

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doing good is not grammatically correct

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here, but we use it all the time.

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Technically, if you are doing good, you

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are doing something positive like giving

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to charity or volunteering. I volunteer

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at the shelter because I enjoy doing

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good. Now, you might be aware that

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British people tend to be quite

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understated. So, slightly more nuanced

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responses include pretty good, not bad,

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or not too bad. Yet another very common

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response is can't complain. This is the

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same as I'm all right. In the UK,

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particularly in the north, you might

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also hear mustn't grumble. Grumble means

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complain. An example, how are things?

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Yeah, mustn't grumble. You'll also hear

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people say hanging in there and getting

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by. These phrases mean that you're

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surviving and so you're fine and they

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are obviously used humorously. How's it

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going? I'm hanging in there. You can

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also use them more seriously if you're

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going through a challenging time and you

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want to answer honestly, but your tone

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of voice will be different. Uh, hanging

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in there. Another classic understated

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response is same old or same old, same

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old, meaning that nothing or not much

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has changed in your life since the last

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time you spoke with that person. This is

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a great response to how's life or been

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up to much. Now, after you've responded,

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you'll probably ask the other person how

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they are. And we very often simply ask

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you or yourself. For example, h same old

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you or not bad thanks yourself. Now

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using yourself like this isn't entirely

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grammatically correct but again it's

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very common. You might also ask how are

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things on your end or how are things at

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your end. This is more informal. Now,

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for our final section, we're going to

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talk about how to give a more honest

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answer when you're not doing too well. A

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common response is been better or been

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better to be honest. These sentences

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also contain an example of ellipsis.

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I've is emitted. We can also simply say,

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oh, you know, and then continue with

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more details. For example, how's it

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going? Oh, you know, Alan's not well

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again. You might also say, it hasn't

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been the easiest week or month. It

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hasn't been the easiest is a bit softer

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than saying, it's been the hardest or

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worst week or month. You can also say

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it's been some day. And this means I've

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had a rough day. And finally, when

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you're not feeling well, you might say

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bit under the weather. or an informal

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very British one. Not too clever. Okay,

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let's actually end on a positive note.

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One of the most positive ways to answer

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how are you is never been better or just

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never better. So, I now have a question

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for you. How are you? Choose one of the

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phrases in this video and respond in the

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comments giving context if you wish.

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Remember to download the PDF and

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exercise pack that goes with this video.

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Click on the link in the description box

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or scan that QR code there. I really

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hope you enjoyed this lesson. I hope you

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learned something and I will see you in

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the next one.

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