Hey how have you been

How to Answer the Question “How Have You Been?” in Fluent English

How have you been?

“How have you been?” is a common question from native English speakers. It’s asking what you have been up to and how life has been for you from from a certain point in time. Perhaps you’re being asked how you’ve been doing since the last time you saw each other. Or maybe since the last time you spoke on the phone. Or it could also be since the last time you sent each other private messages online.

You can see that it’s used in a similar way as “how are you?”However, your answer needs to be a little bit different.

When to Use the Question “How have you been?”

But before we talk about how to answer this question, let’s talk about when to use or when to ask this question. To begin, there are two things to remember:

First, only ask this question if you have met someone previously.

Second, only ask them if you have not seen one another for some time (like a week or longer).

Most importantly, this is not a question to ask someone you have just met, nor is it a question to ask someone you just saw yesterday. The question is actually focusing on the chunk of time that has passed since you saw that person.

Short answers to answer the question

One way to answer this question is to give short or one-word answers. This is usually the case when you are in casual conversations. Native English speakers tend to answer this way when they are conversing with others. Here are some examples of the short answers:

“Never been better!”

“A little crazy actually!”

Longer answers to answer the question

But of course, there’s a longer way to answer this question. I mentioned earlier that it’s similar to answering the question “how are you?”. The difference is when you answer “how are you?”, you answer in present tense. Such as “I’m okay.” With “how have you been?”, on the other hand, you will be answering using the present perfect progressive tense. And this is done by using “I have been” plus the continuous verb form. Present perfect progressive tense describes an action that began some time in the past, continues in the present, and may possibly continue into the future. Here are some examples:

How have you been?

“I have been busy working.”

“I’ve been traveling quite a bit since we saw each other last Christmas.”

“Oh, I’ve been studying a little too hard. I need a break.”

How has he/she been?

“Gabby’s been practicing cooking quite a bit.”

“Well, he’s been spending a lot of time at the gym!”

“Drew has been helping out kids in the neighborhood.”

How to Sound More Fluent and Native-like when you Answer the Question “How have you been?

For example: “I’ve been busy working a lot, too much maybe. How about you? How have you been?”

For example: “I’ve been real busy starting up my own business, but it has been fun too. What have you been up to?“

You can also check out the video version of this tutoruial. Watch how to answer the question “How have you been?” in fluent English.

After watching this English tutorial, if you want to learn more advanced grammar, I recommend Past Conditional Grammar – How to Use Should Have Been, Could Have been, and Would Have Been in English.

Are you looking for a way to improve your English? Would you like to know when you’re making a mistake? Click here to get information on our complete English course, Fluent Communication, and learn when we will open it again for new students.

12 Best Answers to “How Have You Been?”

“How have you been?” is a common reply in English. Native speakers use it all the time when they haven’t seen someone for a while and want to check-in. This article will explore some of the best ways to reply to “how have you been?”

The best answers to “how have you been?” are “I’ve been good,” “I’ve been swell,” and “wonderful!” These are simple expressions you can use to let someone know that you’ve been going well. You may also swap the adjective for a negative one if you haven’t been feeling good.

Table of Contents

1. I’ve Been Good

“I’ve been good” is one of the most common responses to “how have you been?” It shows that you’ve been “good.” This is an informal way to let someone know that you feel positive and happy.

Please enable JavaScript

2. I’ve Been Swell

3. Wonderful!

“Wonderful!” is a great option as a reply. You can keep your reply simple by only using one word like this when you want to announce how positive (or negative) your life has been.

4. Not Too Bad

5. Meh

6. I’ve Been Okay

7. There’s Not Much to Report

8. I’ve Had Highs and Lows

“I’ve had highs and lows” is a great professional response if you want to keep things formal. It shows that things haven’t “been” that good for you, but you’re trying your best to make the most of them.

9. How Much Time Do You Have?

“How much time do you have?” is a good choice for funny responses. It shows that you have a lot to unload on someone and is often used in a more jokey way.

10. I Don’t Remember

“I don’t remember” is another funny response showing that so much has happened in your life that you couldn’t possibly remember the details. It’s a bit of a sarcastic comment as it’s easy to remember most of the things you’ve done in your life.

11. Just Perfect

“Just perfect” is a clear way to show that you’ve had a great time lately. It shows that things have gone really well for you, and you’re really happy with where you’re at in life.

12. I’ve Been Making the Most of It

Is It Correct to Say “How Have You Been”?

“How have you been?” is correct to say. It’s a great question to ask someone when you want to find out how they’re feeling.

It’s similar to asking, “how are you.” Including “have you been” instead of “are you” shows that you might not have spoken to the person for a while.

“Have you been” implies it’s been a long time since you last asked how someone felt.

Martin is the founder of Grammarhow.com. With top grades in English and teaching experience at university level, he is on a mission to share all of his knowledge about the English language. Having written thousands of articles, he is an expert at explaining difficult topics in a simple language.

Connect with Martin on LinkedIn.

About Us

We are on a mission to help you become better at English. As a group of experienced English writers, we enjoy sharing our knowledge in a language that everyone is able to understand.

Senior Member

I have two questions:

1) What difference do the members of this group see between these two phrasess?

a) How have you been?
b) How are you?

2) Do you consider these phrases to be formal, informal or either one, depending on context?

Phillip

Member

hi there,
although people often ask and answer these questions as if they are the same thing, they technically are not. «How have you been?» includes sometime in the past up through the present time, whereas «How are you?» applies to the present only.

These can be either formal or informal.

Senior Member

hi there,
although people often ask and answer these questions as if they are the same thing, they technically are not. «How have you been?» includes sometime in the past up through the present time, whereas «How are you?» applies to the present only.

These can be either formal or informal.

Phillip, I agree with you, and my wife agrees with both of us.

In my experience the two phrases are sometimes used interchangeably. For instance, if you have just a met a friend whom you have not seen for a long time, you might say, «How are you?»

I’m also positive I’ve said both when running into someone I especially like but have not seen for some time, especially someone older:

«John, what a surprise to see you! You are you? How have you been?»

I consider this a very polite and intimate way to ask someone about his/her health and general well-being, but it is also used very casually too. However, I don’t think it is as informal as: «How’s it going?»

I started this thread to get other opinions. We had a discussion about this phrase in another forum and did not get enough feedback to form a definite conclusion. I thought perhaps there are regional differences in usage. For that reason, I hope to get as many answers as possible. I didn’t think it warranted a poll.

Hey how have you been

@elliefoteinatou
this is a polite greeting to someone thatu may not have seen few days or weeks.

Символ показывает уровень знания интересующего вас языка и вашу подготовку. Выбирая ваш уровень знания языка, вы говорите пользователям как им нужно писать, чтобы вы могли их понять.

Мне трудно понимать даже короткие ответы на данном языке.

Могу задавать простые вопросы и понимаю простые ответы.

Могу формулировать все виды общих вопросов. Понимаю ответы средней длины и сложности.

Понимаю ответы любой длины и сложности.

Решайте свои проблемы проще в приложении!

( 30 698 )

Hey how have you been

how r u feeling.
whats going on
anything new happening recently

Символ показывает уровень знания интересующего вас языка и вашу подготовку. Выбирая ваш уровень знания языка, вы говорите пользователям как им нужно писать, чтобы вы могли их понять.

Мне трудно понимать даже короткие ответы на данном языке.

Могу задавать простые вопросы и понимаю простые ответы.

Могу формулировать все виды общих вопросов. Понимаю ответы средней длины и сложности.

Понимаю ответы любой длины и сложности.

Решайте свои проблемы проще в приложении!

( 30 698 )