All over the world people greet each other. And friends, and colleagues, and relatives, and neighbors say: "Hello!" or hello! Translation into English of this word is quite simple, but it is only at first glance.
Down with the stereotypes!
After all, we do not always uniformly greet each other, it all depends on the situation and on the person we met. The English are no exception. And if the knowledge of some people is limited to only one banal phrase, then this is only the fault of the school curriculum, which provides only a formal version of the greeting, and not natural. This is the same as an Englishman comes up to you, a Russian, and says instead of “Hello, how are you?” the phrase "Bread and salt to you!". It’s hard to even think how to respond to such a greeting. Let's look at the options that are relevant today.
Standard greetings
Now we will consider several options for how the English will say "Hello!". However, remember that you need to pronounce it with a smile, which is for the British a kind of rule of good form in communication.
- Hello! or hi! This is the universal and most popular option, familiar to everyone. So they say "Hello!" in English to comrades or people you know well. If you are not a fan of this foreign language, then such knowledge about the greeting will be quite enough. However, we are not like that, so we move on.
- Good morning (afternoon, evening), which means "Good morning (day, evening)!". This is no less common version of how you can say in English “Hello!”, But already more complete and formal. This phrase will sound even more interesting if the following nuances are observed: morning - a word that should be used before noon, afternoon - until 18.00, evening - until midnight. However, if you need to greet someone, for example, at a party at one in the morning, then the last word will also come in handy.
- There are also phrases: How are you? and pretty much the same: How are you doing? They are quite formal, suitable for greeting with strangers or strangers.
More commonly used phrases
If you want to be known as an educated person who knows how to say “Hello!” In English sound right in each specific situation, then move on.
- Hi there! It means roughly "Hello there!". This option of greeting is a slang, therefore it is suitable for friends and very good friends. In no case should you say this to your boss or an unfamiliar company.
- Instead of hi from the previous phrase, you can insert hello. The translation of this greeting is almost the same as the first, only this option is more formal.
- Hey, how are you doing? So you can ask your comrades: “Hello! How are you?" For our fellow citizens this phrase is already tired and even cuts the ear, but English-speaking people are delighted with it. Just know that the expression is not formal, but more slang. But it shows your interest in the upcoming conversation.
Variants suitable for a very close environment
As a rule, most people need just a spoken foreign language, therefore it is not particularly important in this case, as the word "Hello!" Is written in English. The main thing is to know when and where to use one or another oral form. We go further.
- What is up? This combination translates as "What's new?" or "How are you?" We remind you that greeting people you know little is extremely undesirable.
- How is it going? This version is translated in the same way as the previous one.
- Wow! It is good to see you! Translated as "Super, good to see you!". A great phrase to express sincere joy from the meeting. Instead of the word good, you can insert synonyms (nice, great), the meaning of the phrase will not lose from this.
- Howdy friend This is a purely American version, which means "Hey buddy, how are you?"
First meeting
Now you know how “Hello!” Will be in English, and you can safely use one or another option depending on the situation. However, this is not all! How not to get confused and say hello when you are introduced to someone for the first time? For this case, we recommend using the following phrases:
- good to meet (see) you;
- nice to meet (see) you;
- I am pleased to meet (see) you;
- it is a pleasure to meet (see) you.
In this way, you will let your interlocutor understand that you are pleased to meet him. The phrases, as they say, are dry and formal, but they will come in handy in any case.
Unexpected meeting
Imagine the situation. You walk along the street, think about something, and suddenly you meet a person whom you have not only not been seen for a long time, but you have not even thought of ever meeting just like that. How will it be in English "Hello!" in this case?
- Oh my dear God, It is you! We say this phrase like this: "Lord, is that really you?"
- Aahh, where have you been? It translates as "Where did you disappear?"
- Wow, it is so good that I see (meet) you again! - “Wow, how nice to see you (meet) again!”
And if you have no time?
Sometimes it happens. After all, you still need to say hello, but I also want to get away from a possible subsequent conversation beautifully, and so do it so as not to offend a person. What can be said in this situation?
- Hi, sorry, unfortunately I can not stop. It means "I'm sorry, I can't talk right now."
- Hi there, I have no time now, but here is my phone number, give me a call. “Hello, I don’t have time at all now, but here is my number, call me back.”
- Hi, I want to talk, but unfortunately I have to dash. “Hello, I would have enjoyed chatting with great pleasure, but I have to run.”
Informal greetings
You can go up to your friend and say: "Hello, old man!"? Of course yes. And do not think that stiff English is incapable of such a thing. Arm yourself with the following phrases and use them to greet your close friends.
- Hiya. No, this is not a ninja exclamation at all, but just a combination of the words hi and you.
- Alright? This greeting combines both the word hello and the phrase "How are you?" It turns out that you greeted each other and took an interest in matters.
- Hey. A short American word for those who are too lazy to say long greetings.
- Watcha. Once it was the phrase What cheer ?, which means "How is your mood?" At the moment, formalities are discarded, and we have a short word.
- Morning (afternoon, evening). Yes, we mentioned such options above, but they aren’t quite like that, the school is unlikely to be taught this, unless the teacher has caught modern views. Because the phrase good morning represents the official version of the greeting, but if you drop the first word, you get something like “How did you sleep?”
- Yo Another word that came from America. Surely you not only heard it many times, but you yourself pronounced it. This is something like an informal version of the word hi.
Conclusion
In this article, we examined how you can say hello in English to friends, colleagues, and how to do it right and culturally. You can safely replace many words in the above phrases with synonyms, it will not be worse from this, especially if the phrase was informal anyway. For additional practice, we advise you to watch films in English, where you will hear all this more than once and understand where and how to use greetings.