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本帖最后由 图书馆 于 2015-11-2 20:53 编辑
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How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters
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There are a few questions that English speakers ask at the beginning of a conversation. These questions are simple tools to find out if there are any interesting topics to discuss.
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; Z1 z1 X1 V1 |- \* r- R9 IYou've certainly heard these questions, but you might be confused about how to answer. Here's a list of common answers to the questions "How are you?", "How's it going?", "What's up?", and "What's happening?"
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6 |, z/ D3 L9 A6 `4 o; {How are you?1 v; i" p; S9 b% e
Fine.
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This is a simple, straight answer. If you don't say anything else, though, it might be a signal that you don't want to continue the conversation.1 J) Q& x3 ~4 h
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Not bad.7 K1 l, v- ^. i1 F5 o# _4 d
, p: t$ O, e+ `# [This is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".& E- V3 I0 S/ ~0 W( w+ S }
7 |8 Z5 n% o# M8 U9 [Fine, thanks.
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/ E. _! B( N6 B5 U: uThis answer is formal. You might answer this way if someone you don't know, like a waiter at a restaurant, asks how you are.
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- {) t9 k) E4 y. I. a2 S0 `Very well, thanks.
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% K# T9 \% w# Z) p$ _& g9 `A person who likes to be grammatically proper might answer this way. Technically, the question "How...?" should be answered with an adverb. However, a lot of English speakers don't know or care about this. The people who do are "by the books" types who insist on using grammatically correct language. a+ M* n/ J. q9 L' Z
- V* q7 a/ _7 sPretty good. }5 i% S8 I5 |' D- t: {
$ H: T# V4 V9 A# S4 {If you don't care as much about grammar, you can answer "Good" or "Pretty good". It's more common and much, much more casual. I, X+ U" w; h
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Great! How are you doing?, V# j: j& j- W. @0 P* [
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This is an enthusiastic, excited response. It's always good to ask a question back to the other person if you want to continue the conversation.
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! H4 _& _& J# iI'm hanging in there. t; v( }& n5 J2 ?( ]) j3 U7 ~# ~
7 @/ S: R. F; qThis answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day.5 g; Q$ Q5 w3 q( j Z6 S
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I've been better.
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% O' i2 I8 \0 d. c nPeople usually give positive answers to the question "How are you?" If you give a negative answer like this one, it usually means that you want to tell the listener your sad story. So they'll usually ask what's wrong:( O; S( Y' {2 A4 l# J* B
$ R( j- i* v$ a* M. @4 @A: How are you?
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/ C, J( {1 \+ j: X) qB: I've been better.( e5 ^8 m6 @. ~- I* X
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A: What's wrong?
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B: I just found out that I'm being laid off.( b) s2 S5 A$ g
( G" [2 u A- M% z) ^' L3 k1 sHow's it going?
2 a0 [6 j# p& JThis question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.2 K/ [4 d I1 p* z% P
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Here's another answer that will also work for "How's it going", but not for "How are you?" E. B1 `0 f8 p$ A: f& J+ Z; J/ G
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It's going well. , U9 Y! b" W% ?. k1 [
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This is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while.
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1 g1 ?3 _ w9 T4 o; eWhat's up?* Q: H) M. O/ f& u S6 d- ]
This question means "What's happening in your life?" But you don't have to answer honestly. If you don't want to start a long conversation, you can use one of these standard replies:
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# e) ~' E }) A; t \2 }Nothing much.' U3 y, B/ C# A/ d8 L- m
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This is the most common answer. You can follow it by sharing something interesting that's happening: "Nothing much. Just getting ready for Vanessa's graduation."2 Q2 ~0 {* `/ n5 ~- h* x2 C1 |
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Not a lot.3 W! \/ o( `; f. I9 i; x
3 a: U; z1 c" RThis is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.
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* L$ K2 F, G2 R9 k! |4 WNothing.8 {( h3 ]* I; z* T- @ L
3 d# C# o- p/ @ gThis is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.: t/ s, P" z# j: E) E- c4 G
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Oh, just the usual.4 s% \% i9 i' X; }
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Answer this way if you do mostly the same things each day. L: j. P+ v; k7 V
; g: A! R2 {" Y; ]2 k' r9 o' ?" S' \; yJust the same old same old.1 q! x6 h! I! A+ n3 \7 p d
' s! w: U. J$ l6 D; u! K6 SThis phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it.
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. t, c2 D1 G- V3 \Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff!: ~7 g# `% }; U
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You can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.; ]) K7 w2 F0 K8 \) M0 d
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What's happening?
) T! }6 h4 G9 e7 V! kThis question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.1 m1 t7 e4 V0 t5 a- n/ s5 t
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