LoginGreetings
English greetings vary by time of day and formality. Expressions for saying goodbye also include casual and formal. Follow the lesson to find out more.
What Do We Mean by Greetings?
Greetings are words, phrases, or actions used to acknowledge and welcome someone when you meet them or communicate with them. They are a way of showing politeness, respect, and acknowledgment toward the other person. The type of greeting used can depend on the culture, context, and relationship between the individuals involved.
Why are Greetings Important?
Greetings are Important in almost every culture in the world. Greetings can help us communicate better with people and start socializing. It is also important to know how to greet different people. We cannot greet our boss the way we greet our best friend or a stranger, or an elderly person, each of these demands a different way of greeting.
Levels of Formality
The reason it is important for us to know the level of formality of each of these phrases is to maintain the level of formality when talking to another person. It would be weird if the other person starts the greeting very formally and we reply with an informal phrase or the other way around. Therefore it is very important to observe the level of formality of the situation, which can be:
- Formal or Neutral
- Informal
- Slang
- Letters and Emails
Formal and Neutral
Here, we have listed some of the greetings based on their degree of formality from very formal, to formal, and neutral. Some phrases can be used in both speech and writing. These can be used in business conversations, or when talking to people you don't know well, or in other formal situations. The neutral greetings can be used everywhere and with anyone. Have a look at the following table:
| Phrase | Level of formality | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Neutral | Writing and Speech |
| Hello Mr...,Ms...,Mrs...,Miss... | Formal | Writing and Speech |
| How are you? | Neutral | Writing and Speech |
| How do you do? | Formal (British) | Speech |
| Hi | Neutral | Writing and Speech |
| Pleased to meet you | Formal | Speech |
| It's a pleasure to meet you | Formal | Speech |
| Good morning/afternon/evening/night | Neutral | Writing and Speech |
| How have you been? | Neutral | Speech |
expressing greetings
Tip!
If we say hello/hi + a title (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., Prof.,...), the title may or may not be followed by a family name, this will make the greeting more formal.
Informal Greetings
Here, you can find less formal (informal) phrases that can be used in social events, with friends, with people you may already know, etc. Let's have a look at the following table:
| Phrase | Level of formality | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Hi | Neutral-Informal | Writing and Speech |
| Hello+ first name | Neutral-Informal | Writing and Speech |
| Hello/Hi there | Informal | Writing and Speech |
| What's up? | Informal | Mostly Speech |
| How’s it going? | Informal | Speech |
| How’s things/how’s life? | Informal | Speech |
| Long time, no see! | Informal | Speech |
| Hey / Hey man! / Hey guys! | Informal | Speech |
| Nice to see you | Informal | Speech |
Tip!
If we use Hello/Hi + a first name, this will make the greeting informal. For example, 'Hello Jasmin' or 'Hi Jack'.
Slang
Here, we have listed some slang greetings. They may not be grammatically correct, but they are used in spoken English. You can use them when greeting friends or people who are close to you and you feel comfortable with:
| Phrase | Level of formality | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Hiya | Slang | Writing and Speech |
| Yo! | Slang | Speech |
| ‘Sup? | Slang | Speech |
| Are you OK?, You alright?, or Alright mate? | Slang | Writing and Speech |
| Howdy!* | Slang | Writing and Speech |
| G’day mate! | Slang-British | Writing and Speech |
| Heyyy | Slang | Writing |
| What’s the craic? | Slang-British | Writing and Speech |
As you can see, there are different slang expressions in American and British English. So you must pay attention to where you can use each of them.
Tip!
'Howdy' is a very informal abbreviation of 'how do you do?' which is very common in parts of Canada and the US. Remember, if you use “howdy” outside of these parts, you will sound like a cowboy, and it might sound a bit funny to other people.
Letters and Emails
We mostly use very formal and particular greetings when writing emails/letters. Let's check the following table:
| Phrase | Level of formality | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Dear Sir/Madam | Formal | Writing |
| To Whom It May Concern | Very formal | Writing |
| To the Hiring Manager | Very formal | Writing |
| Dear Mr..., Mrs..., Ms..., Miss..., Prof..., Dr... | Formal | Writing |
| Hope this email finds you well | Formal | Writing |
| Hope you are well | Formal | Writing |
Closing Greetings
There are some greetings that are used at the end of a meeting or letter. Let's check some of the common ones:
| Phrase | Level of formality | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Goodbye | Neutral-Formal | Speech |
| Bye | Neutral-Informal | Speech |
| Yours Sincerely / Yours Faithfully | Formal | Writing (letters/emails) |
| Best regards | Formal | Writing (letters/emails) |
| All the best | Neutral-Formal | Writing and Speech |
| See you later/tomorrow/in the morning | Neutral | Speech (mostly) |
| Take care | Neutral | Writing and Speech |
| See ya | Slang | Speech |
| Catch ya later | Slang | Speech |
| Lots of love / Much love | Informal | Writing (mostly) |
| From + [name] | Neutral | Writing |
| Peace out | Slang | Speech |
Tip!
There are some differences between American and British usage. For example, in American English people might say: Hey what's up? (Informal), but in British English, to make the same point they use the phrase: 'Alright mate'.
There are many other cases like this. Another example is that in British English, the phrase 'Are you ok?' has the same meaning as 'What's up?', but if you use the same phrase in America, it would mean that you think they look sick or unwell!
How To Respond To Greetings
There are two ways to respond to greeting:
- One word responses
- Long responses
One Word Responses
We can respond to some greetings with a single word (usually the same greetingis repeated). Let's see some examples:
| Greeting | Possible short answer example |
|---|---|
| Hello | Hi |
| Hey there! | Hey! |
| What's up? | Nothing! |
| Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening | Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening |
Long Responses
A one-word greeting can seem a little bit dry, so we can sometimes use longer responses to greetings. Here are some examples:
| Phrase | Possible long answer example |
|---|---|
| How are you? | Great, thanks. What about you? |
| What's up? | All good, what's up with you? |
| How do you do? | Wonderful, and you? |
| How's everything? | Not so well, I have been having a lot of ups and downs lately. |
Self-Introduction
Self-introduction is very important, it is the starter of socializing with others. The introduction and the information you would like to give about yourself depend on the situation, whether it is a classroom, a business meeting, among new friends, etc. An introduction can include the following steps:
- Giving your name/family name
- Giving information about yourself
- Asking the other person about their name/information (optional)
Let's check an example conversation in a classroom:
Here you can see another example in a different situation:
Here are some phrases you can use when introducing yourself:
- My name is .../I'm...
- Nice to meet you; I'm ...
- Let me introduce myself; I'm ...
- My name is Cameron, but you can call me Cam.
- Pleased to meet you; I'm ...
Introducing Others
To introduce others you need to follow these steps:
- State the name of the person you are introducing
First, you need to state the name of the person you are introducing. You can use the following phrases to start:
I would like to introduce...
This is...
May I present...
- Offer some information about the person, depending on the situation
You can give a little information about the person you are introducing, such as the relationship between you two (this is my friend/husband/partner/classmate, etc.). If the situation demands, you can use titles such as Mr., Ms., Professor, Doctor, etc. You can also consider telling their job or any other information you think is suitable for the occasion.
- Remember to introduce the other people to the person you first introduced
When you are introducing one party, remember to introduce the other party too. It is very rude to just introduce one of the people.
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