How do you say hello with somebody you see first time of every day?

[Maggie]

Hi,guys

As the title. How do you say hello when you see someone first time of every day?

As I know,I would say 'How are you today'.
I would say 'Good morning' when I see someone in the morning.
I would say 'Good afternoon' when I see someone in the afternoon.
I would say 'Good evening' when I see someone in the evening.
I would say 'Good night' when I see someone in the night.

And how about you? I wonder if I can use them in other ways.

Besides,if someone say 'how are you ?' ,how do you response them? For me, I would say 'Great!','Not bad','Wonderful','good'. And again,how about you? I wonder if I can use them in other ways.

The last question is that when does people say 'What's up'?

Thanks in advance.

Greetings!

BTW,please correct my mistakes if possible.

Maggie
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[Alan]

Hi Maggie,

The use of 'good morning/good night' and so on is really quite formal. If you know someone well, the greeting would more than likely be 'hello'.

Your question:

[Maggie]

Hi,Alan

First,thanks for your help. I have other questions. One of my friends told me that some American say 'What's up',and they do keep doing their things. I mean that 'What's up' is similar to 'Hi'. Am I right?

One more question. If people say 'How do you do',I simply need to response to the same sentence,'How do you do'. Definitely,it's old-fashioned way of speaking English. Am I right?

Thanks again.

Greetings!

Maggie

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[Jamie (K)]

In the United States, "What's up?" means exactly what Alan said it means. However, in the US it's now often used similarly to, "Hi!" A common answer, when it is used as a greeting, would be, "Nothing," or, "Nothing. How about you?" In some situations, people answer, "What's up?" with, "What's up?" You have to pay attention to the way the person says it, though, because in one tone of voice it's just a greeting, but in another, more serious or emphatic tone of voice, it's a request for information.

You can forget about using, "How do you do?" with North Americans, because we virtually never say it, and when someone does say it, we understand it as being the same thing as, "How are you?" and requiring the same answer. When I taught in Europe, I was very surprised to find in the textbooks that the British answer, "How do you do?" with, "How do you do?" My advice is that when someone from the UK asks, "How do you do?" you should answer with the same question. But if, by some slight chance, an American or a Canadian asks, "How do you do?" you should answer it the same as if he had said, "How are you?"

Sometimes in North America you'll also hear the greeting, "Howdy!" This is a sort of cowboy expression, but it's widely used. It comes from, "How do you do?" but it just means, "Hi!" A longer, and funnier form of "Howdy!" is, "Howdy-doody!" It also means, "Hi!"

[Maggie]

Hi,guys

One more question. What should I say more polite in an actual phone conversation? If I call to one company,and I want to talk with someone. Could I say 'Hello,I am Maggie,May I speak to Bill'? Or should I say 'This is Maggie speaking'. But I think it's a old-fashion English. After leaving some messages, could I say 'That's all,Thanks so much,see you soon'? Is it weird? Or could you give some examples that what do you say? Actually,if I know the receptionist, I would say 'Hi,Kelly,How are you?' after she/he says 'I am Kelly,may I help you'. Here, I simply want to say hello with the them before asking them doing something for me. Is it okay?

Thanks again.

Maggie^^
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[Nabz]

I am not at all experienced in talking to companies but I have sent them e-mails regarding sponsorships for a Culture Fest that my school held last month. I think a telephone conversation should go on like this:

(For a Musilm): Me: Assalamoalaikum. My name is Nabiha and I am speaking from the XYZ School. I wanted to know if I could get through to Mr. ABC?
OR
Assalamoalaikum. My name is Nabiha and I am a student of the XYZ School. May I please talk to Mr. ABC?
OR Could you please transfer the call to Mr. ABC?
OR I wish to speak to Mr. ABC regarding sponsorship for the PECHS School Culture Fest.

(For non-Muslims): You could simply say Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening instead of Salam as that seems polite enough to me.

Your second question: Ending of a conversation... I don't think I'd say "see you soon". Rather I'd say "Thankyou for your services.Khuda Hafiz (Muslims)/ Good Evening/Have A Nice Day." OR "Thankyou. Good Evening." I don't think there's any need to add "so much".
_________________
Assalamoalaikum Warahmatullahe Wabarakatuhu.
Nabiha Zeeshan

[Jamie (K)]

This is how the conversation would go in the United States:

Nabiha: Assalamoalaikum. My name is Nabiha and...
Receptionist: What?
Nabiha: Assalamoalaikum. My name...
Receptionist: I'm sorry. Can you speak English, please?


There's nothing really special to asking for someone on the phone in English. You can use any polite greeting, such as "Hello," "Good morning/afternoon/evening," or even "Hi!" if you say it in a friendly enough way. Then you identify yourself: "This is He Pijiu," or, "My name is He Pijiu." Then you ask for the person you want to speak to: "May I please speak to Mr. Bu He Cha?" or, "Is Mr. Bu He Cha available, please?" If the receptionist asks you what you want, or, "What is this regarding?" you just explain it in a normal manner of speaking.

If the receptionist is speaking very fast when she answers, and you sense that she is extremely busy (for example, you hear more lines ringing), it's polite not to waste her time, and you can just say, "Mr. Bu He Cha, please." Say it in a friendly, polite tone of voice, however.

[Maggie]

And when you want to say 'good bye' for someone,how do you say?
Like me,I would say

See you!
See you later!
bye!

Here,I am curious the differenece between 'see you' and 'see you later'? If I say 'see you later',does it mean I hope we will see again soon or simply say goodbye to someone?

And I have heard someone told that I can say 'later' but it's not a formal way,definitely. Do you agree with this one?

Thanks again.

Maggie
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[Maggie]

[Maggie]

Hi,guys

If someone says 'what's up' to me, could I say 'not much' or 'nothing much'? And what does 'not much' and 'nothing much' exactly mean here?

Thanks again.

Maggie
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And welcome to my blog: http://0rz.tw/793HL

[aleaf]

It depends . when i greet the person who has higher position or senior to me i will say:"how are you or hello /good moring/afternoon/evening" but when i greet my friend i just say:"hi"or "what's up?9buddy ,man or sister)" and then a big grin or smile.........
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[diverhank]

[prezbucky]

Nabz

What does "Inshalla" mean?

Thanks,

Tom
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