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SIFIRDAN İNGİLİZCE 2.DERS Common Questions How are you?
Bahar Şahin
Overview
This video lesson focuses on common English questions and answers related to asking about someone's well-being and current situation. It moves beyond the basic 'How are you?' to introduce more natural and frequently used phrases like 'What's new?' and 'How's it going?'. The lesson also explains the nuances between answering about one's mood versus physical health, and provides alternative responses beyond the standard 'Fine, thanks.' Finally, it covers how to ask about a third person's well-being and introduces useful expressions for departures and farewells, along with the idiom 'a piece of cake.'
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Chapters
- The traditional 'How are you?' with the response 'Fine, thanks, and you?' is a cliché and less common in everyday conversation.
- Many alternative phrases exist to ask about someone's well-being, such as 'What's new?', 'What's going on?', and 'What's happening?', which are more frequently used.
- Phrases like 'How are you feeling today?' and 'How are you doing today?' specifically inquire about current feelings.
- To ask about recent activities or a longer period, 'What have you been up to?' or 'How have you been?' are appropriate.
Learning these alternative phrases allows for more natural and engaging conversations in English, moving beyond rote memorization to practical usage.
Instead of always asking 'How are you?', you can use 'What's new?' to inquire about recent developments in someone's life.
- While 'Fine' is a common response, other positive answers include 'Good,' 'Pretty good,' 'Very good,' 'Well,' and 'Very well.'
- When asked 'What's new?' or similar, common replies indicating no significant changes are 'Not much,' 'Nothing much,' 'Nothing,' or 'Nothing new.'
- It's important to distinguish between answering about mood ('good') and physical health ('well').
- If not feeling well, responses like 'Not so good' or 'Not so well,' often followed by 'actually,' can be used.
Understanding a variety of responses helps in both comprehending others and expressing your own state more accurately and naturally.
If someone asks 'How are you?' and you want to convey you're feeling happy and content, you'd say 'I'm good'; if you want to convey you're physically healthy, you'd say 'I'm well.'
- To ask about a specific person, use 'How is [Name]?' (e.g., 'How is Hüsnü?').
- Responses for a third person use the appropriate pronoun: 'He is fine' for a male, 'She is alright' for a female.
- When asking about multiple people, the question becomes 'How are [Name 1] and [Name 2]?' or 'How are they?', and the response uses 'They are...' (e.g., 'They are pretty good.').
- This structure also applies to asking about family members ('How is your mom?') or even inanimate objects ('How is your new job?'), using 'it' for non-persons.
This section provides the grammatical tools to extend the conversation beyond oneself and inquire about the well-being of others, making conversations more inclusive.
If you want to know how your sister is doing, you would ask, 'How is your sister?' and she might reply, 'She is good.'
- Common farewell phrases include 'I'm out,' 'I'm off,' 'I gotta go,' and 'I gotta take off,' all meaning 'I have to leave.'
- Expressions like 'Keep in touch' encourage continued communication.
- Variations of 'Take care' such as 'Take care,' 'Take good care,' and 'Take care of you' are used for well-wishes upon parting.
- The idiom 'a piece of cake' means something is very easy to do.
Mastering these set phrases and idioms enhances fluency and allows for more culturally appropriate and natural interactions during departures and when describing tasks.
When leaving a conversation, you can say 'See you later, keep in touch!' or 'I gotta go, take care!'
Key takeaways
- Vary your greetings and inquiries beyond the basic 'How are you?' to sound more natural in English.
- Understand that responses to 'How are you?' can reflect mood ('good') or physical health ('well').
- Learn to use 'he,' 'she,' and 'they' correctly when asking about the well-being of others.
- Familiarize yourself with common phrases for saying goodbye and encouraging continued contact.
- Recognize and use the idiom 'a piece of cake' to describe something that is very easy.
- Actively practice new phrases by writing them down and using them in context.
Key terms
Common QuestionsHow are you?What's new?What's going on?How are you feeling?What have you been up to?Long time no seeGood to see youFineGoodWellNot muchNot so goodActuallyHe isShe isThey areIt'sI'm outI gotta goKeep in touchTake careSee you laterA piece of cake
Test your understanding
- What are at least three common alternatives to asking 'How are you?' and in what situations might you use them?
- How does the meaning of responding with 'good' differ from responding with 'well' to the question 'How are you?'?
- How would you ask about the well-being of your friend's sister, and what would be a typical response?
- What are some common phrases used when you need to end a conversation and leave, and what does 'keep in touch' mean?
- Explain the meaning of the idiom 'a piece of cake' and provide an example sentence using it.