| |
Conversational
Language
(#9):
Greetings
There
are many ways to greet
people in English.
Generally,
greetings vary according to the situation--from casual
or
very
friendly to very formal.
Use casual or very friendly
greetings when you are among
friends--particularly friends
your own age. Casual
or very
friendly
greetings are
not appropriate in any very polite
situations. If you
use them in very polite, formal situations,
the results
could be embarrassing.
Polite greetings can be used
at
any time except in the most
formal
situations.
Very formal greetings are
appropriate when you
want to
show your very best behavior--both
in actions and in the
language that you use. Use formal greetings when you
meet
important
people or older people.
Here are some typical greetings
grouped by degree of
formality and politeness:
Casual / Very
Friendly
Greetings
Hi!
Hi, _____
(name)
Hey!*
Hey, _____ (name)!
Howdy!*
Howdy, _____ (name).
Polite / Friendly
Greetings
Hello.
Hello,
(name).
Hello there.
Good _____ (morning / afternoon
/ evening)*.
Good _____ (morning, etc.), _____
(name).
Very Polite
Greetings
How do you do?*
How
do you do, _____ (title)*?
How do you do, _____
_____ (title +
name)*?
Good (morning, etc.), _____
(title)*.
Good (morning, etc.), _____ (title +
name)*.
_______________________________________________
Special Notes:
| 1. |
|
People
often use "Hey" as a way to get the
attention
of another
person, but "Hey" is also
used as a
casual, very friendly greeting. |
| |
|
|
| 2. |
|
"Howdy"
(a very casual "abbreviation" of "How
do you do?") is common in some dialects in
the
U.S., but it is considered
uneducated and
unsophisticated in others. |
| |
|
|
| 3. |
|
"Good
night" is not a greeting. It's a way of
saying
"goodbye," not "hello." People usually
say "Good night" when they are leaving
an
activity at night or when they are going to
bed. |
| |
|
|
| 4. |
|
The
response to "How do you do?" is
usually
the same: "How do you
do?" In the U.S.,
people
generally do not respond
with
"Well, thank you" or "Very
well, thank you." |
| |
|
|
| 5. |
|
Titles used without
a
name include sir
(for a man), ma'am (for
a woman), and
professional titles (Doctor, Professor,
Reverend, Father,
etc.)
Do not
use "Mister" or "Lady" as a title.
Both
of these are considered
disrespectful.
|
| |
|
|
| 6. |
|
Titles used with a
family
name) are Mr.
(for a man), Ms.
(for a woman--general),
Miss
(for a young, unmarried woman),
Mrs. (for a married woman), and
professional titles (Doctor, Professor,
Reverend,
Sister, etc.)
In most dialects of U.S. English,
titles are
not used with given
names (Mr. Dennis,
Miss Mary, Mrs. Anna, Doctor
Bob, etc.),
but titles are used
with given names in
some dialects.
|
| |
|
|
| 7. |
|
Responses to greetings are
normally the
same
as the greeting or a variation
on it (such as with
or without a name). Responses
normally match
greetings in terms of
formality:
|
A:
B:
A:
B:
|
|
Hi.
Hi. / Hi, _____
(name).
Hi, _____ (name).
Hi.
|
| |
|
|
|
A:
B:
A:
B:
|
|
Hello, _____ (name).
Hello.
Hello.
Hello, _____ (name).
|
| |
|
|
|
A:
B:
A:
B:
|
|
Good afternoon, _____ (name)
/
(title) / (title, name)
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon, _____ (name)
/
(title) / (title, name)
|
|
|
