How to answer to how are you

How to Answer ‘How Are You?’ Like a Native English Speaker

Table of Contents

This question is the start of many English conversations. It’s also a source of confusion for just as many English language learners.

We would know, because our students often ask us, “What’s the correct response to ‘How are you’?”

Luckily, there’s more than one way to respond to this question. Today, we’ll share some popular responses to “How are you?” as well as some ways to make them more interesting.

Option 1: “Hi. How are you?”

Surprisingly, a lot of people reply to “Hi. How are you?” with another “Hi. How are you?” For example, in the following video, an American man starts conversations with 10 of his friends in Los Angeles and discovers that most of them reply “Hi. How are you?” or something like that.

Unless you’re talking to a friend, “How are you?” is often just a way to greet someone. Think of it as a more elaborate “Hello.”

Option 2: “I’m Fine.”

Your English courses weren’t wrong when they taught you to respond “I’m fine»! Neutral expressions like this are actually some of the most popular responses to “How are you?”

So “I’m fine” is a good, default response. Unlike positive or negative responses (e.g. “I’m doing great” or “I’m not OK”), neutral responses like this serve two purposes:

Below are some more popular English phrases that are similar to “I’m fine.”

I’m good / well.

Some people say that “I’m well” is the proper way to respond to “How are you?” while others insist that “I’m good” is grammatically correct.

The truth is both “I’m good” and “I’m well” are fine and commonly used in conversation. As the Chicago Manual of Style explains, “‘I’m good’ is the currently popular slang reply, and ‘I’m well’ is the formal reply.”

I’m OK / alright.

If you fall down, someone will probably ask you, “Are you OK?” or “Are you alright?” If you’re not hurt, your response would be “I’m OK / alright.” That’s the general idea behind “OK” and “alright.”

Here’s an example of a conversation where one of the speakers says, “I’m alright, thank you.”

I’m doing well / OK / alright / fine.

You can also use the phrase “I’m doing …” with an adverb to say how you are. The most common adverbs are “well,” “OK,” “alright,” and “fine.”

Not (too) bad.

Another way to say you’re OK is to say that you’re “not bad” or “not too bad.” This phrase is often accompanied by an expression like this:

“Not too shabby” is an even more informal way to say “not bad.” For example, “Not too shabby. What about you?”

Can’t complain.

Another way to say “not too bad” is “can’t complain.” After all, if your life isn’t too bad, you can’t really complain about it! For example:

Pretty good.

“Pretty good” is another way to say “not too bad,” though it’s on the positive side.

Same old, same old.

If your life has not changed much, it’s the “same old” life. If asked “How are you?” you could respond:

Option 3: Add a Little Detail

If you don’t want to sound too indifferent, but also don’t want to make the conversation longer than necessary, add a little detail to the neutral responses above.

Add a little detail with “just”

You can add some detail using the word “just.” For example:

Add a negative detail with a positive twist

As Merriam-Websters puts it, people “tend to downplay anything bad” when they’re asked «How are you?» So when they do share something negative, they’ll often add a positive twist at the end. After all, it’s common to share bad news before good news in English.

Add a funny detail.

If the situation allows you to be funny, you can take “How are you?” as an opportunity to make a joke about your life. Might as well start off the conversation on a light note!

Go Start a Conversation!

Now that you know how to start a conversation in English, go out and have some!

And if you need practice having conversations or are looking for helpful language learning tips, feel free to reach out to one of our tutors. Learn more about us here!

Learn: How Are You in Russian & 11 Ways To Answer

Hello Junkies!

There are many ways to ask How are you in Russian.

Here, you’re going learn the top common ways to ask and how to answer this question as well. Read out the English pronunciations to get a good idea of how the phrases actually sound in Russian. You can also try RussianPod101’s lesson on “How to Say How Are You.”

How to ask How Are You in Russian – Questions. 7 Ways.

Just like English, there are many ways to ask this question.
The more you know, the better Russian speaker you will be.

✅ Hey, if you REALLY want to learn & speak Russian, I suggest RussianPod101. You get 1,000+ audio/video courses, lessons by Russian teachers and a whole learning system. Sign up at RussianPod101 (click here) and start learning! I recommend ’em as a teacher & learner.

1. Как дела?

This is the most common way of asking and also very casual. Essentially, this is how you can say “what’s up” in Russian as both, asking about what’s up, or how are things going on in general.

2. Как ты?

This is a very casual way of directing asking how the person is. The question points directly at the listener by asking “How are you?” Here’s the polite version below.

Want to vary up your Russian expression? Use this instead. Not much to this phrase as you’re literally asking them how their life – or day-to-day life is going.

4. К ак поживаешь?

This is just another way of asking “how’s life” in Russian. The only difference is that, as opposed to “How’s life, ” this question directly asks “how are you living.” So, you’re directly asking about their day-to-day life, or their recent life – whether health, love, work, etc. This is pretty casual.

For the formal way, as usual, we turn the verb into plural.

5. К ак всё?

You’d ask “How’s everything” or “How’s everything going?” in English, right? Well, this is the Russian variation.

6. Bсё нормально?

Another variation of this is….

7. Как у тебя там?

This is typically used when the person you’re talking to is far away. So, you’re asking “How are things over there?”

How to answer “How Are You” in Russian.

To be honest, although these questions are slightly different, they can all be answered with the same common phrases. You’re going to learn all the phrases that you can use. Remember: In Russian, it’s okay to answer with 1 word, an adjective, to describe how things are. Just like in English where you can say… A) Hey, how are you? B) Good!

how are you in russian

Again, there’s more than one way to ask How are you in Russian and answer the question. Just like English. However, knowing these variations will give your Russian more range of expression and make you more fluent.

Done!

Now you know how to say How are You in Russian and answer this question

Want more lesson? Check the link below for a full learning program called RussianPod101.

Answers to the Question: How are you?

Feel comfortable answering the question “How are you?” in English conversation. This video gives you several options for answering, and teaches you how to use the right answer depending on your mood.

Video Text:

In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over responses to the phrase “How are you?”

This is one of the most common questions you’ll get asked when meeting someone or running into someone you know. If English isn’t your first language, it can be hard to quickly come up with an answer. In this video, we’ll go over the various ways you can answer this question.

The most common response is ‘good’. Let’s look at some examples.

– Hey Rachel! How are you?
– Good!

– Hey Aaron!
– Hey! How are you doing?
– Good! How are you?
– Good!

Good. If you just want a simple, quick answer, this is the best. It’s positive, and it moves you ahead in conversation. If you want to remember just one response, let it be ‘good’.

– How are you?
– Good.
– Where do you want to eat?

Or whatever. Ready to move on to the next topic after the exchange of “How are you?” “Good.”

Good – make the G consonant with the back of the tongue touching the soft palate. Goo-. Then the UH as in PUSH vowel. The lips flare a bit for this, and the jaw drops some. The tongue lifts in the back and the tip will pull back just a little bit so it’s not quite all the way forward. Good.

What do you notice about the D? Good. I don’t release it, Good, dd, dd. But I stopped the air and I don’t release it, good. This is the most natural way to pronounce the final letter D. You put your tongue up into position for the D, you voice your vocal cords, dd, dd, dd, and that’s it. Good. You can also say, “I’m good,” but just plain “good” is more common.

You can also answer “How are you?” with the word ‘fine’. This is less positive than ‘good’. It sort of means ‘average’. You’re not great, you’re not terrible. You’re fine. Begin with the F consonant, bottom lip to the bottom of the top front teeth. Fi-. Next is the AI diphthong, do drop your jaw for the beginning, fi-, then relax your jaw back up as the top front of the tongue stretches towards the roof of the mouth. fine. Now the tongue just has to flip up to the roof of the mouth. It should stay really wide and flat so it can be relaxed in the back. Fine, fine. Or, I’m fine.

– How are you?
– Fine.

You can also say, “great!” or “I’m great!” This is, as you might have guessed, a more positive answer, and you might follow it up with the reason that things are great.

– I’m great! I just finished a big project that was stressing me out.

Great! It starts with the GR consonant cluster, gr. Your lips can start to circle in for the R at the beginning of this word, it won’t affect the G sound, gr-. For the G, the back of the tongue stretches up to the soft palate.

For the R sound, the front part of the tongue quickly pulls back and up as the back part releases.

You can see the lips circle in. Gr-. Grea-. Now we have the AY as in SAY diphthong. Make sure you drop your jaw – grea-. Great! Ok, what’s happening? What’s happened to the T? Like D, the T is a stop consonant. We usually don’t say the ending, the release, when it’s at the end of a sentence. Great, great. Just stop the air. You can move your tongue into position for the T, but don’t release it. Great! This stop makes the word abrupt and flatter. Great. That makes it different from ‘grey’, which has a rounder shape and no abrupt stop. The abrupt stop makes the T. Great.

If you’re not doing great and you don’t want to talk about it, you can say ‘fine’. But if you do want to talk about it, then you can say ‘not good’ or ‘not so good’.

– Hey Rachel, how are you?
– Not so good. I’m stressed about work.

Not good. Or, not so good. What do you notice about the T in NOT? It’s a Stop T, just like ‘great!’. I just listened to about 10 video clips with this phrase on the web, and they all have that stop T. Not-, not-. So you begin to say ‘not’, and you cut yourself off. Cut off the air in your throat. Not-, not-. Not good. Not so good. You don’t even need to move your tongue into position for the T. You can just stop the air. Why is the T pronounced this way? It’s not at the end of a sentence. No. It’s pronounced that way because the next sound is a consonant, [s] in ‘not so good’ and [g] in ‘not good’.

Listen to Jen say ‘not good’ in this example.

– How are you guys doing today?
– Good. How are you?
– Not good.
– Hey Rachel! How are you?
– Not so good.

So there you have four different ways to answer the question “how are you?” ‘Good’ is the typical, positive answer. You don’t need to say more. ‘Fine’ is a little less positive, but again, that’s usually all you have to say. You usually don’t elaborate. ‘Great!’ means you’re better than normal, and you might want to say why. ‘Not good’ or ‘not so good’ is of course negative, and you’ll want to elaborate and say why things are not so good.

Note: If someone asks you this, you usually give the answer and then return the question: Good, how are you?

How are you? How am I pronouncing ‘are’ in that sentence? I’m reducing it. Err. Howerr– Check out the video on reducing ‘are’. Also, be sure to see this video on greeting Americans and how to pronounce ‘how are you’. Go ahead and click one to watch it now! Links are also in the video description below.

If you’re new to Rachel’s English, welcome. I have over 500 videos to help you speak better American English on my YouTube channel. Click here to visit my channel and subscribe. Or, see this playlist to get started with my videos. The link is also in the description below.

Also, I have a great ebook – 290 pages with two and a half hours of audio. This book details my method for learning American English pronunciation. It organizes hundreds of my online videos for a path, start to finish, to help you speak beautifully and naturally. Click here or in the description below for more information and to purchase a copy. You’ll get free updates of the book for life.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

Possible answers to «How are you?»

Hope to have answered your question!

A: «How are you?»
B: «Fine, thanks. How about you?»

You might want to have a look at «Meeting people»

Friends often say «Hi» to each other. Then they often ask a general question, such as «How are you?» or «How are things?» or «How’s life?» The reply to this question is normally positive.

You might want to have a look at «Meeting people»

Friends often say «Hi» to each other. Then they often ask a general question, such as «How are you?» or «How are things?» or «How’s life?» The reply to this question is normally positive.

«Fine thanks, and you?»
«Fine thanks, what about yourself?»
«Not bad.» Or «Can’t complain.»

I am assuming that your student is a young person (teens, twenties) and that the setting is informal.

It is very common for speakers in this age group to use informal greetings, for example:

A: Hey, how are you?
B: I’m good, and you?

This can even be shortened to:
B: Good, you?

I am assuming that your student is a young person (teens, twenties) and that the setting is informal.

It is very common for speakers in this age group to use informal greetings, for example:

A: Hey, how are you?
B: I’m good, and you?

This can even be shortened to:
B: Good, you?

Alternatives:
B: I’m OK, and you?
B: Cool. You? (But it’s probably better for your student to avoid using slang until she feels more confident.)

Greetings like these are often used in preference to the more traditional ones like:
B: Very well thank you, and you?
B: Fine thanks. And you?

However, Clare’s comment about turning the greeting round to the other person (reciprocating) is absolutely correct. It is still considered polite to enquire after the other person’s health, even in informal greetings.

Finally, your student should understand that these greetings are formalities which serve to start the conversation off, rather than a true enquiry about the person’s health. She should avoid answers like:

B: Well, actually, I’ve got a splitting headache and I think I’m coming down with flu.

Hope that helps! &#x25B2 Collapse

I can’t complain.

I’m fine, thank you.

Doing fine, thank you. And you?

Couldn’t be better.

Just fine, thanks.

It’s Monday.

I can’t complain.

I’m fine, thank you.

Doing fine, thank you. And you?

Couldn’t be better.

Just fine, thanks.

It’s Monday.

It’s Friday!

Hangin’ in there.

Your student seems to be quite shy and concerned about proper manners. Probably she should use superlative, more for her own extra comfort to be 150% positive that noone would start worrying about her well-being right on the spot (fat chance:-) but if this is how the person feels, I would propose this way out to respect her feelings.

Super!; Great!; «Terrific! Yourself?»

Your student seems to be quite shy and concerned about proper manners. Probably she should use superlative, more for her own extra comfort to be 150% positive that noone would start worrying about her well-being right on the spot (fat chance:-) but if this is how the person feels, I would propose this way out to respect her feelings.

Super!; Great!; «Terrific! Yourself?»

I’m not a native but I feel that those replies would help a shy foreigner to cut the conversation as soon as possible and not in any rude way at all, they rather would insure a brief cheering exchange, simple greeting and a perfect freedom to continue about your own business.

With the «yourself» part she should also learn that she is not obligated to stay and listen to oneself’s life story:-). Can be omitted for now.

[Edited at 2005-05-10 10:04] &#x25B2 Collapse

I can assure you that the Japanese use that phrase pretty much the way we do, as an extension to «Hi». They answer automatically that they’re fine, as a conversation starter too, like Charlie pointed out.

Your student’s quandary has to be something else: is she self-conscious about her pronounciation, is she too shy to speak in public, or.

There’s quite a good section in The Times called Modern Manners that answers fiddly etiquette questions. It’s rather good and is available for free online at www.timesonline.co.uk. Your question came up recently so I’ve copied it below:

There’s quite a good section in The Times called Modern Manners that answers fiddly etiquette questions. It’s rather good and is available for free online at www.timesonline.co.uk. Your question came up recently so I’ve copied it below:

Is it acceptable in the UK to ask people «how are you?» when meeting them? It is common in the US but I get the impression that Britons don’t like this degree of familiarity. I’m going to the UK next month and don’t want to do anything «Charlie» (to use your term). Dwayne Williams, Chicago

«How are you» is a polite conventional greeting. It does not require (or welcome) as an answer a detailed description of your medical condition. Americans are generally better at such meetings than the English. As far as one can generalise about national characteristics (a foolish act), you are extrovert and at ease in your skins. You announce your names audibly and proudly. When meeting a stranger, the nerves of the average Englishman are jangling in calculations of class, caste and character. He mutters his name sheepishly. It is polite to take the lead from whomever you are meeting, especially if she is female.

In sections of South-East England these days it is considered unfriendly to address anybody as Mr Surname, and not to kiss any woman twice or even thrice on alternate cheeks, while making the Charlie onomatopoeic suburban sound of Mwaaagh, Mwaaagh. In other parts and classes of the UK it would be a faux pas to kiss a reluctant female, or to address a gent by his first name without invitation to do so. For some generations (military old buffers, and others who consider themselves middle-to-upper class) the most intimate address is to call another gent by his surname tout court, «Howard». It is perfectly acceptable to greet a stranger or friend with the incantation «How are you?», provided that the question is asked as an exclamation cheerfully, openly, and without sounding as though you expect an answer.
— Philip Howard, The Times &#x25B2 Collapse

The Better Way to Answer ‘How Are You?’

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By: Anna Meyer for Shine

“How are you?” “Good, how are you?” “Fine.” Ever have an interaction like that? For most Americans, it’s an everyday conversation that plays out at work, at home, or even at the grocery store. For me, it happens daily. My roommates or friends will ask me the question, and I’m always ready to respond with a “good” or “fine.”

I never thought much about the question until recently, when my former roommate, Andrea Subirana, pointed out that most Americans don’t expect any other response to “How are you?” than “good” or “fine.”

Subirana, a 21-year old international student studying engineering, grew up in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. When she came to the U.S., she told me she specifically had to learn the art of the “How are you?” dance. While learning English, she says she read on one website that “How are you?” is nothing but a conversation starter — not a true inquiry into a person’s feelings. The website suggested she respond to the question with a “fine” or a “not bad,” not how she’s actually feeling. Before she started school, university staff also made a point to tell her that Americans would ask “How are you?” a lot, and they typically didn’t want a literal answer. It’s something she learned firsthand, too.

“Sometimes I’ve answered ‘not good’ [to the question], and people didn’t listen to me,” Subirana told me. “People don’t know how to react when someone isn’t doing good.”

As I talked with my friend, I couldn’t help but wonder how treating this phrase as a nonliteral question could affect Americans. If we’re taught as a culture to only be great, OK, or fine when someone asks how we’re doing, how will we ever have a real conversation around our emotions?

If we’re taught as a culture to only be great, OK, or fine when someone asks how we’re doing, how will we ever have a real conversation around our emotions?

It’d be one thing if all we ever felt was “good” or “fine,” but that’s not true. Researchers from UC Berkeley recently found we have 27 different categories of emotions. These categories range from disgust to triumph to envy.

It’s often hard to break from the “fine” and “good” to define how we’re actually feeling, but studies show it’s a valuable skill in the long run.

Putting Feeling Into Words

One benefit of naming our feels: It can help make negative emotions feel less intense.

Matthew Lieberman, a psychology professor at UCLA, calls naming our emotions “affect labeling,” and he defines it as “the process of forming a clear and distinct idea” of an emotion. Lieberman co-authored a study that looked into how the brain benefits from affect labeling. What the researchers found: Subjects who labeled their feelings could better manage their negative emotions than those who didn’t label their feelings.

Naming our emotions can make negative emotions feel less intense.

When we define our emotions, we strengthen our ability to accept our emotions, too. Another study, also co-authored by Lieberman, showed that when we name our emotions, we turn them into something to scrutinize rather than just something we experience. In doing so, we can disrupt the intensity of an emotion and better accept it without engaging with it. “You acknowledge that you’re feeling anxiety, but you don’t get stressed about it,” Lieberman told the Dana Foundation.

And accepting our emotions — both the good and the bad — can help us build emotional resilience. When researchers from Yeshiva University looked into traits shared by those who lived to be 100 years old, they found that a healthy sense of emotional expression was a key personality trait of those who lived to see old age. That means they were able to express emotions openly and didn’t bottle up the bad ones.

The benefits of defining our emotions are pretty clear. Interested in getting more vocal and specific about your feelings? Here, three tips on how to do it.

1. Use the “Mood Elevator”

If defining your emotions feels difficult, visuals can often help you determine what you’re experiencing. Just as doctors have used the Wong-Baker FACES scale to help patients communicate their pain levels for years (on a scale of one to 10, how much does it hurt?), there are visual tools out there that can help anyone determine their emotional standing.

One such example: the Mood Elevator. The Mood Elevator was created by author Larry Senn, and it’s used by business firm Senn Delaney in order to help employees better communicate their feelings at work. The elevator visual lists a wide range of emotions, with grateful, wise, and insightful at the top, and angry, hostile, and depressed at the bottom.

Beyond offering a range of words to help you describe your feelings, the elevator also can also show you what the closest related emotions are to your current state. For example: If you’re currently feeling impatient and frustrated, you’re closer to feeling appreciative than you are to being completely burned-out. When put in perspective like this, your emotions might not feel as confining.

2. Pay Attention to Physical Signals

Emotions can be hard to define because they’re mostly invisible. Think about it: You can see a bruised knee, but you can’t always clearly see someone’s hurt feelings. But as psychologist David Caruso explained in an interview with The Atlantic, there are some subtle physical signals that can at least clue you in on how you’re feeling.

As an example, Caruso says you can notice signals “like tension — I feel my jaw is tense, there’s tension around my eyes. Am I worried, am I anxious, am I angry?” In his interview, he said that once you connect the signals to an emotion, the next step is to ask yourself what the possible causes are for that emotion. Perhaps you’re running late to something, the morning traffic triggered some anger, or you read an emotionally-taxing news story recently.

Emotions can be hard to define because they’re mostly invisible.

Caruso says that once you know what caused your emotions, you can get better at managing them. You also can then better communicate how you’re feeling.

For example: If you notice that morning traffic has you stressed, you can share that with your desk mate at work by saying something like, “If you notice I’m irritable this morning, it’s because my commute traffic was stressful. Hopefully I’ll calm down after lunch.”

By giving a clear emotional label and the reason behind it, it helps those around you better understand your behavior and mood. This way, nobody’s going to be whispering in the break room about what got under your skin or misinterpret that they were the ones who made you feel that way in the first place.

3. Practice Having the Conversation

For some people, discussing their emotions can be as frightening as public speaking or confronting a major fear. To get comfortable with conversations about emotions, practice having those talks.

“Start with someone you know,” Caruso told The Atlantic. “A trusted colleague, friend, or something like that. Start at a low level of intensity. Not when you’re truly enraged, but when you’re mildly irritated.”

If having a conversation still seems out of reach, Caruso said you can also try taking a video selfie of yourself expressing your feelings (think: like a reality star in confessional booths). When you hear and see yourself on screen, it might help you can evaluate how you actually feel and help you better communicate your emotions.

If the emotions feel too strong to communicate, Caruso suggests counting to 10 and then assessing your actions or decisions. After you calm down, try using specific vocabulary to help others clearly understand where you’re at.

How Are You — Really?

After learning about the benefits of defining our feelings, I decided to try my own emotional experiment: I vowed to truthfully answer “How are you?” for an entire week. I wanted to see if I answered truthfully about my stress or anxiety, would people listen? Or, would they carefully ignore my honesty and move on?

When my family called and I answered their “How are you?” with “anxious,” they actually helped me address my concerns head on and in a helpful way. Instead of telling me to destress by going for a run or getting good sleep, they were able to give me advice on my specific situation.

The same thing happened when I met up with an old friend for coffee. By using specific language (“I’m nervous about missing my upcoming flight abroad”), I was able to talk about limiting my unnecessary “what ifs” and focus more on the positives up ahead.

But being honest about my feelings didn’t work in all scenarios. When I arrived to that coffee shop to meet my friend and the barista asked me, “Hi! How are you?” at the counter, the last thing that felt appropriate was to give him an honest answer.

“Fine, thanks!” I said before placing my order.

Americans will probably always use the “fine” greeting for those quick, everyday interactions. But I found that those go-to automated responses should only be used then. When it comes to talking with friends, family, or coworkers, let’s get real, specific, and honest. The benefits and the real talk starts there.