Video notes
When somebody says 'How are you?' What reply would you normally give?
Would you just say, "I'm fine, thank you, and you?"
While this is not wrong, it sounds a little bit like an English textbook! In reality, there are a lot of different replies that we would give to this phrase in everyday life. Let's take a look at some of them.
I'm good / pretty good.
This is a very common response. However, some people say that "I'm good" is grammatically incorrect, and you should say "I'm very well"
Other common responses:
I'm doing great.
I'm alright.
Fine, thanks
Very well, thanks.
Amazing!
Fantastic!
If you are talking about yourself, you would say "I'm fine", but if you're referring to more than one person, for example your whole family, then you should say "They are good / fine / doing well."
Normally we wouldn't say "I'm so-so"
Instead, you could say:
I'm ok.
Not too bad.
Same as always.
Same old.
How to respond to 'How are you' if you're not very well.
I've been better.
I'm plodding along.
Not that great, actually.
Things have been a bit tough recently.
I'm not feeling very well.
I'm feeling a bit under the weather.