Question
Updated on
9 Aug 2016
- Simplified Chinese (China)
- Traditional Chinese (Hong Kong)
- Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
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English (US)
Question about United States
How to answer "How are you?"
How to answer "How are you?"
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- Country or region Mexico
* fine , thanks
* i am happy ( sad, tired )
* i am good
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- Country or region China
But my friends told me that "fine" is not friendly or popular.
- Country or region China
- Country or region Mexico
it is a common
but this unspecific how you really feel
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- Country or region Mexico
i can say : i am fine and maybe i am bad
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- Country or region Mexico
- Country or region Mexico
- Country or region China
- Country or region Canada
= = = =
Notice: the other people who answered above are native Spanish speakers. Not all of their answers sound natural. For example, a native English speaker would never respond to "How are you?" with "I am bad" – that sounds very unnatural. Even "I am happy" or "I am sad" is a very unusual response.
= = = =
One of the most common responses is "fine, thanks" (or "I'm fine, thanks") which is appropriate in most casual/informal situations.
The response "good, thanks" (or "I'm good, thanks") is also common, but some people consider it to be improper or grammatically incorrect.
You can say "fine, thank you" in situations which are a little more formal (like business environments). The response "good, thank you" (or "I'm good, thank you") is also acceptable, but not recommended.
In more formal contexts, it's common to say "I'm very well, thank you" (or just "I'm well, thank you"). You can also say "I'm doing well" or "I'm doing very well".
If you are not feeling well (e.g. sad/upset, angry, sick/ill, etc.), some people say something like "I'm okay, thanks" or "I'm okay, but I could be better".
If you are in a really positive mood, you might respond with something like "Great!" or "Fantastic!"
= = = =
Notice: It is very unusual in English to say how you really feel (e.g. upset, angry, scared, etc.) in response to the question "How are you?". When people are upset, they might say something like "I'm okay, but I could be better", but very rarely do people actually respond with direct feelings like "I'm sad". It's a little more acceptable for positive feelings (e.g. "I'm really happy" or "I'm ecstatic") but it is relatively rare for negative feelings like sadness, anger, fear, etc.
= = = =
Notice: it is customary to reciprocate the question in return after responding. If you are responding to the reciprocated question, then you do not normally add thanks or thank you after your response. Example:
A: "How are you?"
B: "I'm fine thanks, how are you?"
A: "I'm doing well. I just got back from my trip to Europe."
...
= = = =
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- Country or region Pakistan
I am doing great
or i simply say "great/good. how about you?"
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- Country or region China
- Country or region Canada
@LeoKnuth Yes I am a programmer, but I chose the username a long time ago (well over a decade) before I even knew the python programming language existed.
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- Country or region China
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