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Conversational
Language
(#11):
Answering "How are you?" Questions (#1)
Both
casual and polite greetings
are often followed
by (or combined with) questions which ask about
someone's general condition.
Responses to these questions
differ according to the formality of the
situation.
Formal
Situations
In formal situations, the
typical question is "How do you do?" and, in American English,
the response is generally the same: "How do you
do?" This response
is normally said
with
falling intonation and is not really intended as an answer to the
question. Instead, it's a kind of "ritualized" response: no truthful
answer is expected. If an answer is given, however, what's expected is
"Very well, thank you." (Because the speakers in a formal
situation normally don't have a friendly relationship, any other
answer--especially a negative one--would
make the
person who asked the "condition" question uncomfortable.)
Polite
Situations
In polite (but not formal)
situations, "condition" questions are
generally some variation on "How
are you?"
("How are you, [name]?" / "How are you, [title]?"
/ etc.) The expected answer is some variation on "Fine, thank
you"
("Very well, thank you" /
"Fine,
thanks" / "Well, thanks" /
etc.), but if the persons asking and
answering the questions know
each other well,
a neutral or even a negative answer is
possible:
| A: |
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How
are you today? |
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| B: |
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So-so. / Not bad. / I've been
worse. /
etc.
Not very well. / Not so well.
/ Not well.
/ I've been better. / etc.
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In such a situation, the person
asking the
question will probably say "I'm sorry" or "I'm sorry
to hear that" or "That's too bad" and expect some comment
on a neutral or
negative response, but a long description of
why the other person is not
"fine" is not
expected.
Casual / Friendly
Situations
In casual or friendly situations,
"condition" questions may be answered positively, neutrally,
or negatively. Normally the question is answered without adding "thank
you" or "thanks"
to the answer:
| A: |
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How's
it going? / How're you doing? / How's everything? /
How's by you? |
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| B: |
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Great! / Terrific! / Wonderful!
/
Fantastic!
So-so. / Not bad. / I can't
complain.
Terrible! / Awful! / Really
bad!
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In friendly or casual situations
(since the two
speakers know each other well), it's appropriate to discuss why
the person spoken
to feels the way she / he does--whether
positive, neutral, or negative.
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