Informal & Professional English Greetings for Every Situation
This lesson was originally posted in February 2016.
It was updated in December 2022 with new content and a video lesson.
Have you ever heard someone you donβt know say,Β
- Hey, whatβs up?
- Hi, howβs it going?
Perhaps it was a stranger you walked past in your neighborhood. Or someone youβve seen at work once or twice but you donβt really know.
What exactly are they asking? Do they want to know how your day is going?
Not quite.
And is it polite or respectful to say βHey, howβs it goingβ even with people you donβt know very well, like your neighbors?
Well. Sometimes.Β
In this Confident English lesson, you’ll learn other ways to say hello in English with greetings for professional situations, casual conversations, and encounters with strangers or people you donβt know well.Β
You’ll understand the nuances of age, for example greeting peers vs. someone older than you.
And you’ll l earn a common structure of English greetings – most of the time, we donβt stop with a simple hello.Β Β
Lastly, if youβre not sure what someone really wants to know when they say, βWhatβs upβ or βHowβs it goingβ, weβll talk about that too. Including when someone truly wants to know how youβre doing.
English Greetings for Informal and Professional Situations β Other Ways to Say Hello
Common Structure for English Greetings
Letβs start with a structure youβre likely to hear (and use) for spoken greetings in English.Β
In an effort to be friendly and polite, itβs not uncommon for an English speaker to casually greet a friend, a neighbor, an acquaintance, or even a stranger with a greeting such asΒ
- Hi, howβs it going?
- Hey, whatβs up?
- Hey, how are ya?
To be clear, these are casual, friendly greetings that can be used in a variety of situations.Β
And they all mean one thing: hello.
These are simple, polite greetings that acknowledge someoneβs presence or take the first step in starting a conversation.
In this structure, you have a single greeting word (hi/hey) + a question.Β
For example, Howβs it going or whatβs up?
However, this isnβt the same as asking: how are you?Β
Itβs not an invitation to talk about your day, how youβre feeling, or whatβs happening at work right now.
In fact, the only response expected is a similar: βHey, howβs it going?β or βHi. Good. You?β
In other words, you exchange one greeting with a similar greeting. No one shares specific details about how they are feeling or what is happening in their life.
What this means is two strangers might politely pass each other on the street and say:Β
A: Hey, whatβs up?
B: Hey, howβs it going?
In this exchange, they are simply saying hello to each other.
If thatβs the case, then how do you know when someone is REALLY asking: How are you?
Thatβs a great question. And Iβll be answering shortly but first, letβs look at other ways to say hello casually and professionally.
English Greetings for Informal Situations
Letβs start with casual greetings to use most of the time, whether youβre greeting a friend, a coworker on the elevator, a neighbor youβve never spoken to, or a complete stranger on an early morning walk.
Because Iβm an American and I currently live in the U.S., Iβll focus on greetings used in the United States.
There may be common greetings where you live that I havenβt included here.Β
If youβre not sure what to say, I recommend listening to others around you, particularly those who consistently speak with politeness, kindness, and warmth. Which greetings to they typically use?Β
This is a good way to identify the best ways to say hello to others where you live.
Now here are several you can use:Β
Good Morning
This is the most formal way to say hello in casual conversation but itβs also very friendly and warm. With this combination of formality and warmth, itβs perfect to use when passing by a stranger on a morning walk, greeting a neighbor, or saying hello to coworkers.
Of course, because it includes the word βmorningβ we stop using it around noon.
Hello / Hi / Hey / Hey thereΒ
These are all common ways of saying βhelloβ in a casual, friendly way, and quite often, these are immediately followed by a question such asβ¦
Howβs it going? / Whatβs going on? / Howβs everything?Β
These questions are typically combined with hi, hey, or hey there. For example
- Hey, howβs everything?Β
- Hey there. Howβs it going?
- Hello. Howβs it going?
When responding to these greetings, the expectation is that you use simple answers or simply respond with a similar greeting. For example
- Hi, howβs it going?
- Good, thanks. You?
- Fine thanks, you?
- Everythingβs great, thanks. You?
Whatβs up? / Whatβs new?
Similar to howβs it going but more informal is whatβs up or whatβs new.Β
For example:
- Hey, whatβs up?
Common responses include:
- Not much.
- Nothing.
- Hey, whatβs new?
Here is an example dialogue:
A: Hey Mina, whatβs up?
B: Oh, hey. Not much. Howβs it going?
YoΒ
While not as common as hi or hey, you may occasionally hear βyo.β It is typically only used with individuals who know each other well and is more common
HowdyΒ
βHowdyβ is a regional greeting, which means it is only used in some areas of the United States.Β
Β
Good to see you. / Itβs been ages! (since Iβve seen you.) / Where have you been hiding? / What have you been up to?Β
These are common greetings when you have not seen someone you know for some time and often follow a hi or hey.
These expressions can be used as part of your greeting when you see someone unexpectedly, at a party, a family gathering, etc.Β
The question βwhere have you been hidingβ invites conversation. It is a way of saying, βHow have you been?β Here is an example dialogue:
A: Hey! Itβs good to see you! Itβs been ages! Where have you been hiding?
B: Hi Sue, whatβs up? Iβve just been busy, working a lot of long hours. What about you? How have you been?
A: Everythingβs good. Nothing new really.
English Greetings for Professional Situations
Letβs transition to situations in which we may need more formal or business professional language in English. Some common examples include
- Business meetings & negotiations
- At a job interview
- Communicating with high-level management
- Saying hello to the company president or CEO
- Meeting new business colleagues
- Communicating with new clients, high-level clients, angry clients
Good morning / Good afternoon / Good Evening
Good morning is the only one on this list that is commonly used in place of βhelloβ when greeting an individual.Β
To be particularly respectful, you can also include the personβs last name, for example: βGood morning, Ms Jones.β If you know someone well, you can also use their first name.
Β When you are greeting a group of people β for example at a meeting β you can also say something such as:
- Good morning, everyone. I hope you are doing well this morning.
In greeting an entire group, this is also when someone might use Good afternoon or Good evening.Β
For example, at the start of a presentation or lecture.
How do you do?
How do you do is a bit old-fashioned and not often used. In fact, Iβm not sure if Iβve ever used it.Β
It is also quite formal and is used when meeting someone for the first time.Β
Itβs often confused with the question βHow are you?β but it isnβt a question at all. How do you do is a statement. A greeting. Itβs an alternative to βIβm pleased to meet you.β
Hello / HiΒ
Similar to the casual greetings we discussed, weβll often start a professional conversation with a simple hi or hello.
How have you been doing? / How have you been?
Similar to asking βhowβs it going,β these questions will often be used after a hi or hello as a polite greeting.
The expectation is to receive a short, positive focused response such as:
- Great, thank you. And you?
- Very well. How are you?
- Good thanks. How about you?
When does βHow are youβ mean βHow are you?β
With our casual and professional greetings, weβve heard many alternatives to the question βHow are youβ including
- Howβs it going?
- Whatβs new?
- Whatβs up?
- How have you been?
But none of them really ask, how are you? When those questions get asked in a greeting, we donβt really expect a lengthy conversation about how youβre doing.
So when does someone what a real answer? When does someone truly want to know how you are?
The secret: they will ask you twice.Β
Β
Imagine you unexpectedly see a coworker at the grocery store. Hereβs what that conversation might sound like:
- Your Coworker: Hey Sue! Good to see you. Howβs it going?
- You: Good thanks. And you?
- Your Coworker. Everythingβs fine. Just busy with the kids, of course. So how are you? Itβs been a tough few weeks at work with the looming deadline, hasnβt it?
Β
What do you notice?
In that dialogue, the coworker asked βhow are youβ a second time, after the initial polite greeting. When that happens, someone really wants to know how youβre doing.
I’d love to hear from you! What is your favorite greeting in English?Β
In your English life, do you use informal or professional greetings more often? What lessons have you learned about greetings in English from your own experiences?
Please be sure to share your experiences or ask questions in the comments section below.
~Annemarie
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Hello Annmarie, I’ve got a question. My Japanese colleague told me that once I said “Good morning” to greet someone in the morning, then I couldn’t use “Good afternoon” to greet the same person later that day. I should use “Hello” or “Hi” instead. Is this correct?
Hi Calla, interesting question. I have never heard that advice before. The greetings ‘Good morning’ and ‘Good afternoon’ are perfectly appropriate at any time. They are both highly formal and polite.
Using ‘hello’ or ‘hi’ are also okay. They are less formal and they suggest a level of closeness with the other person.
Thank you so much!π
Hello Annmarie, Thank you dear, for your English lesson it was very helpful.
You’re very welcome, Margaretha.
Hi Annmarie ππ»ββοΈ I hope you and your husband are doing good in California. Iβm still constantly learning new things with you. Very easy and useful lesson.
Thanks again!
Deny
Hi Deny, it’s great to hear from you! I’m so glad you enjoyed this lesson. It’s surprising how much we can learn just about simple greetings.
Hi Anne!! WhatΒ΄s up? I found your video contents greatly informative and educational as well. I never miss any of your weekly presentations. I love the way U tell us about the latest as well as updated ways of communicating with others whoever the others are.
Thank you so much, Ana. I’m happy to know my lessons are so helpful to you!!
Good afternoon!! However, at time to say hello to someone you do not know just to gather his/her attention, in the USA people tend to keep distance. Days after I was told that it is a culture custom and was given a pice of advice that “never greet someone from behind”, depending on where I was, I could be in trouble.
Hi Annmarie, How is it going? How is life treating you? I’ve quite disconnected from your lessons. Basically, cos I passed my police force exam in Septemberand decided to have a small rest from English. My head was like a vase blender. Now, I feel a bit more relaxed and is high time to continue brushing my English with you. Thank you so much for how you teach everything to us.
Hi Victor, congrats on completing your police force exam! It’s totally normal to take breaks from time to time and I’m glad to have you back enjoying my lessons.
Thank you so much for this. Δ° praticed alot,thank you again,have a good day/night/evening/noon
Δ°n our school,there will be a important english check up. Can Δ° make a greeting centence likd this?Greetings,Δ°m glad to see you sir/ma’am.
Thank you for such an informative post. I have a question: could you greet a group of friends like Hello friends! Or itβs not common , and better to say Hey guys!
thanks
Great question, Ann. Both are perfectly appropriate.
Interesting practical and useful. T/Y
Thanks so much Annemarie, it’s really educating
This article was so useful to me, similarly to other post of yours.
I’m glad to hear that, Sheila.
Thank you for this simple and very useful lesson. I am enjoying it so much
From my perspective, greeting goes hard for strangers because of being unaware of the native language in a certain ethnic group you are approaching but greeting senior or junior is much easy to distinguish by observing through appearance, job position, event on progress, the problem you are having to the person you are greeting.m e.g 1 you have gone the wrong way u need to ask u will use a very polite language. e.g 2 your lecturer is younger than but you will have to greet honorably .thank you
Thanks a lot for your help!!
Thank you. I am now in a position to distinguish types of greetings., because I will be teaching young learners who needs to be taught the righr thing at their age. That’s wonderful.
I want to in this course to speak English fluently without confusion and I want to improve my communication skills
Hi Saritha,
You can find out more about my available courses on my English courses page. Best, Annemarie
I got a clear picture of how to use the greetings. Thank you very much for such a wonderful way of describing how to use the various greetings.
thank you so much, this is very helpful
Hello Annemarie!
This is the most exhaustive list of English greetings I have ever found. I’m writing a report on translating English greeting into Vietnamese or vice versa so I would like to cite your work in my report. Would you mind telling me how to cite it in the refference list of my report?
I’m waiting for your answer.
Thank you a lot.
Hello Co,
Thank you for the comment and inquiring how to cite my work. I sincerely appreciate that and I’m thrilled to know this was helpful to you. Here is how you can site this page:
Fowler, Annemarie. βThe Right Greeting for Every Situation in English.β Speak Confident English, 16 Feb. 2016, http://www.speakconfidentenglish.com/greetings-for-every-situation/.
Didn’t find the answer for the questions that burns me a lot: two-three colleagues are chatting in the hall, you are approaching them and say “Good morning!” and …. is getting no sign of response: not a glance, not a wave, not a word…. Am I right to expect at least one of them? Do I need to ignore them at the first place ? Lastly, do I ignore someone’s greeting while conversing with somebody else?
Hi Vera, Thank you for sharing your question. That is a very frustrating situation and I have to say, I’m surprised. Can I ask what country this is in? I’m completely shocked that when you say “Good morning” you don’t get a glance or any responses. In my opinion, that is very rude of the others. I’ve always believed (and taught) that when someone says hello or greets you, you always greet them back. It’s the polite thing to do. Are these people you see every day? I think the decision about what to do is up to you. You… Read more Β»
(Midwest American City perspective:) It could be contextual or non-verbal, or confusion, or just rudeness. If the conversation is critical (new emergency/imminent, high pressure meeting/personal correction) then, they may not spare the attention for those around them (still rude, if they’re in the hall). Probably not the case, if they’re just chatting in the hall. If they are in a conversation and you say “Good Morning” to the group, it would not be unusual for the person speaking to acknowledge the greeting non-verbally, typically by 1. Making eye contact, 2. slight smile, 3. slight lift of the chin for acknowledgement,… Read more Β»
Hello Alex,
Thank you for sharing these helpful insights. You’re absolutely right that there are many reasons someone might not respond to a greeting.
In the end, it sounds to me like Vera has had this situation happen many times and that’s what I find shocking. It makes me sad to think people are being rude by not responding. I agree with your conclusion when you said, “I would continue to say ‘good morning’ and not think too much of it…” It’s always best to continue being polite, even if others aren’t.
Thanks for your comments.
this website is very inportant, i love it.
Thank you for your comment, Muktar. I’m happy it’s helpful to you.
Great! Your lesson like this opens the eyes of foreign language speakers like me. Please keep sharing.
Hello Mantegaftot,
Thank you for the comment. I’m happy to know you found it useful.
Thank you a lot, Annemarie! I appreciate your lessons, all are very helpful.
I’m so glad they’re helpful, Dildora! Thank you for your kind comment.
Hi
How r u doing?
Hopefully you are doing well.
Let me ask you:
1) Would you mind sending me conversation and dialogues between two friends how to overcome fear and shy short notice?
2) how can we speak with soneone confidently make him our friends ?
3) Could you send me such spoken English short and interesting congestion?
I am looking forward to seeing from you soon.
Thank you very much for your help.
God bless you
Abraham
Hello Abraham,
If you would like additional assistance in English, specifically with speaking, please review my Fluency School course. I offer it two times per year and that is the best place to get speaking practice and additional help from me. Thank you.
hello, do you have a YouTube channel so that i can follow your lesson there?
teacher annemarie, thank you very much for the time that you extended to me and i learnt a lot from you.
That’s great. I’m glad you’ve learned a lot, Aireen.
Interesting and useful indeed.Thank you very much,Annemarie.
I’m glad it was interesting and useful, Zou.
Thank you for your efforts us .
We will done well
You’re very welcome.
Thank you so much.
It’s so intresting and correct us a bit mistakes.
very interesting!this lesson helps improve more my knowledge when teaching english other fellows and co-workers.thanks a lot
Awesome, Iongin. I’m so glad this is useful to you and your English skills.
I am really glad, because I learn a lot from this lesson. and I am willing to join your class, thanks.
Hello Daji,
Wonderful! I’m very glad to know you liked it.
Good Afternoon
Thank you again your lessons really appropriate to me π
best regards
Hi again, Alami,
You’re very welcome!
Good Day Dear AnneMarie as you see my greatest above , this is the way to great someone in professional life, I use the greatest when i wreat email and send them to some colleagues. apart that i used familial/slang greetting with family and friends like hi / hey or what’s up. also i want to thank you for the three familial greeting (how’s it going / how’s it going on / how’is everything) before when a heard these greeting i be confused what should do and say because i dont know what the meaning of them. now i wont… Read more Β»
Hi Alami,
I’m thrilled to know this lesson helped you and you no longer feel confused by expressions such as how’s it going or how’s everything! That’s great.
And for your emails, it looks like you have a great way to start them. Well done. Best, Annemarie
Thanking you very much
You’re very welcome, Naveen. π
Thanks to my teacher, I am really love to join your bage or challenge ,because I want to learn this language fluently.
Thank you, I’m glad the lesson was useful to you.