I know what you're thinking,
greetings is a lesson for beginners,
so why is it being featured in the intermediate course?
Let me explain.
When we first meet someone, they form an opinion about us
and they decide whether they like us or trust us,
so first impressions are really important
and something as simple as using the wrong greeting
can give the listener the wrong impression
and it can even make you appear rude
and nobody wants that.
Unfortunately, even some of my most advanced students
use the wrong greetings.
Just the other day, I received an email from a student
inquiring about lessons and he signed off with chop chop,
which means, hurry up and reply,
it was very rude and I was gobsmacked.
So let's very quickly clear up
what can be used in a formal situation
and what can be used in an informal situation.
First let's look at the formal greetings.
This is how you would greet someone at work,
at university or in any official setting,
generally, in formal conversation,
you would use full, grammatically correct sentences
with clear enunciation,
let's have a look at some examples.
Hello.
Depending on the time of day,
good morning,
good afternoon,
good evening.
If you've met the person before, you may say,
it's nice to see you again
or, it's good to see you again.
If you haven't met them before, it would be nice to say,
I'm pleased to meet you.
Often when saying hello, we will follow it with an inquiry,
for example, hello, how are you?
If you've met them before, you might say,
how have you been?
You could ask, how are things?
Like how is everything in your life?
We simply say, how are things?
You may ask a more specific question
like, how is work?
Or if you know them well enough, you may say,
how is your family?
And ways you might respond to this question
in a formal setting are,
I'm fine, thank you and you?
It's always polite to ask the question back.
You could say, I'm very well,
thank you for asking and you?
If they've asked about work, you could simply say,
it's good, thank you.
Finally when your conversation has ended
and it's time to leave, you could simply say,
goodbye
or you might say, it was a pleasure to meet you
or, it was very nice to meet you.
If you're going to see them again some time in the future,
you could say, I'll see you soon.
If you know exactly when you're going to see them,
you might say, I'll see you on Monday
or, I will see you at the event
or, I'll see you in the meeting.
Let's now look at these formal greetings in use.
Good morning.
Oh, hello, how are you?
I'm very well, thank you and you?
Not bad, thank you.
How's that project going?
It's progressing slowly.
(elevator dinging)
I'll see you at 10:30.
10:30?
Your big presentation.
Shit.
Now it's time to look at informal greetings,
this is how you would generally speak to someone
that you know on a personal level,
so your friends or your family members.
Basically everything is shortened and much more relaxed,
so instead of saying, hello, you might say, hi.
Instead of good morning, good afternoon, good evening,
you could just say, morning, afternoon, evening
and instead of saying, it's very nice to meet you,
you could say, nice to meet you.
When making those all important inquiries,
the same rules apply, usually sentences are shortened
and much more relaxed, so instead of how are you?
You might hear, how are ya?
How are ya?
Or, how a you?
How a you,
with the weak form of the word, are, a, how a you?
We also use more contractions, for example,
how've you been?
How's life?
How's it going?
How's things?
Wait!
How's things?
How is things?
That doesn't make sense.
We also make some grammatical errors
on purpose,
English is so confusing,
but that is an acceptable informal way
to inquire about someone, how's things?
When responding to these types of questions
in an informal setting, the same rules apply,
short and relaxed.
So I might answer this question with, fine, thanks, you?
Or, good, thanks, you?
And often in informal situations,
we might use much more exciting language
like, I'm fabulous, I'm awesome
or, I'm fandabbydosey, thank you very much,
but words like fandabbydosey
would not be suitable in an office situation.
Okay, let's see some of these informal greetings in use.
Afternoon.
Oh, hi, how's it going?
All good, thanks, you?
Yeah, awesome, thanks.
How's Lisa doing?
Much better now.
Good.
I've got to go, it was nice to see ya.
You too, bye.
Bye.
So which is your greeting of choice
and have you ever made the mistake
of using an informal greeting in a formal situation?
If you have, then please do write about it
in the comments section below.
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and until next time, put the kettle on, let's have a brew.
(light melodic music)