How to respond to "What's up?"

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How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters

$ N9 ?" f) w/ z9 f7 h' ~There 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?"
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. f" I6 U3 E8 f6 D, G3 f# s  kHow are you?
: Z: N) ~8 h* Y2 HFine.

This 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.
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Not bad.

4 W8 q% w( n6 K3 rThis is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".
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Fine, thanks.

This answer is formal. You might answer this way if someone you don't know, like a waiter at a restaurant, asks how you are.
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Very well, thanks.
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" {3 h6 e6 T. v; b8 |; g+ H9 qA 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.

  @* R# _- d/ W9 f* C7 R4 Z# CPretty good.
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6 K; M) X( T* G& E4 o* Y" wIf 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?

This 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.

I'm hanging in there.
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This answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day.

% G- ~( i- g) T$ w7 Y' iI've been better.
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' m/ [  e$ V5 @  d9 Q3 ~/ G& P, `' bPeople 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:
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! e! v4 [5 \9 y6 f5 c1 Q# sA: How are you?

  K! l' r4 z$ t$ X+ }) M6 y5 DB: I've been better.

A: What's wrong?
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B: I just found out that I'm being laid off.

: ?+ ^3 F2 l5 V( ^" j5 j$ DHow's it going?
) v# M) s& k4 b. Z- _This question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.

% |# U. N2 a9 _4 W. yHere's another answer that will also work for "How's it going", but not for "How are you?"
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* ?& b2 q% f" }8 r, P. E- E2 j' fIt's going well.

, ]2 G5 S' z) @8 x, eThis is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while.

What's up?
This 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:
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Nothing much.

7 v4 k- }' x8 [$ k' HThis 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."

8 g* Q, Z5 \% U4 Q( }Not a lot.

This is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.
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Nothing.

9 W8 M2 P" q: m# V, ]This is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.

( m4 n6 _1 v4 \9 V* V1 G0 K: eOh, just the usual.

Answer this way if you do mostly the same things each day.

8 U- K& }6 g/ K% g# M5 PJust the same old same old.

4 H9 }9 v+ j  k; n1 @This phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it.

/ V7 k! c$ b! u4 ~# x5 r* ^Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff!
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7 l$ P3 b3 f6 e: y) {! j. LYou can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.
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What's happening?
' Z3 m; N' L' d  OThis question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.
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martins

我很烦有人这么打招呼，感觉是小流氓和黑人专用问候语，我一般都回应，“我操你妈”

恰似你的温柔

lol,,,,,,boooooo

pretty

martins 发表于 2015-11-2 21:55
  i$ ?8 P7 C( c! ^7 f# P5 p我很烦有人这么打招呼，感觉是小流氓和黑人专用问候语，我一般都回应，“我操你妈”

不会吧？年轻人喜欢这么问候。真没觉得怎么啊？

白马啸西枫

Not much

白马啸西枫

Same O same O, same old shit on different hole