ENGLISH BITES

Episode 78: “Greetings:

Sound like a native speaker”

Hey guys! Welcome to our ENGLISH BITES – The simplest,

easiest and best way to practice your listening - the only one
that is 100% created, executed and delivered from me to you
- This is Erika Belmonte speaking and I'll be more than pleased
to be here with you guys three times a week and I'm pretty
sure we'll have a great time together - because more than
learning and improving your English, I also want you to have
some fun through a very exclusive content.

ENGLISH BITES ERIKA BELMONTE

Oh…. One more thing, in case you need the transcription of this
English Bite, check our exclusive website
www.englishbites.com.br and look for the episode number 78

Today I brought a suggestion from two of you: greetings that

are used every day by Americans, greetings that I normally
hear or even use. What are the greetings used in a
conversation among native speakers that are not taught in the
books or regular English classes. That's our topic today and I'm
super glad to share that with you all! Oh, and I'd like to take
the opportunity to remind you that yes, you can suggest topics
(I mean, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, ask things
about the US) and I'll be super glad to come and share.

So, today's Bite might sound a little beginner, something too

easy but have in mind two things:
1) Practice makes perfect. Even if you already know them
all, it's always great to review! What you don't use, you
lose, right?
2) There's always something to learn from - maybe a word,
an expression, a pronunciation. I don't know if you know
that, but every time I'm writing an English Bite, I learn
something new... My English has improved a lot just by
helping you guys through our English Bites. Isn't it
awesome?

Anyway, let's get it started. So I'm gonna start by saying the

greeting, then I'll explain and finally I'll give you an example
so I can make myself a little bit more clear alright? One tip:
after listening to this Bite, two or three times, choose a
paragraph and practice your pronunciation. Pause the audio
after a full sentence and repeat. Alright? So let's go:

1. Hey, Hey man.

You can use “hey” to greet someone instead of “hello”. By the
way, that's how I start not only my English Bites but my
greetings in general. Both are particularly popular. While “hi”

ENGLISH BITES ERIKA BELMONTE

is appropriate to use in any daily routine situation, “hey” is for
people who have already met. If you say “hey” to a stranger,
it might be confusing for that person because he or she will try
to remember when you met before! You can also add “man” to
the end of “hey” when greeting guys. Oh, one more
thing: remember that “hey” does not always mean “hello”.
“Hey” can also be used to call for someone’s attention. Let me
give you some examples:
• Hey man, are you coming to the party?
• Hey mom, do you want anything from Walmart? I'm here
now.
• Hey lady, you forgot your wallet.
• Hey sir, you dropped your card.

2. How’s everything?, How are things?, or How’s life?

These are some other very common ways of asking “how are
you?” They can be used to casually greet anyone, but most
often they’re used to greet someone you already know. To
these, you can answer “good” or “not bad”. Again, if small talk
feels appropriate, you could also briefly share any interesting
news about your life, and then ask the person “what about
you?” or another greeting question.
Example:
• Hey man, what’s up?
• Hey, not much. How’s life?
• I think I’m pregnant, haha, just kidding. How are things
with you?
• Things are good, I've just moved into a new apartment.

3. Good to see you. / It’s great to see you. / Nice to see you.
You can use these expressions when you have not seen
someone in a long time or when you see someone
unexpectedly. For example, meeting a client for a lunch, seeing
a business contact at a meeting or seeing an acquaintance at
the grocery store. These expressions can be used:

ENGLISH BITES ERIKA BELMONTE

 • Immediately after saying hello or hi in the greeting. For
example, Hello, Susan. It’s good to see you!
• As part of your closing, after you finish a short
conversation. For example, Well, it was great to see you. I
have to get going. Have a good day. Goodbye.

4. How’s it going? or How are you doing?

These are informal ways of asking “how are you?” If you’re
trying to be particularly polite, stick with “how are you?” but
otherwise, you can use these expressions to greet almost
anyone. The word “going” is usually shortened, so it sounds
more like “go-in”. You can answer with “I’m doing well” or "Just
fine" depending on the question. Although it’s not
grammatically correct, most people just answer “good” – and
you can too. Like when responding to “how are you?” you can
also follow your answer by asking “and you?”. For instance:
• Hey, how's it going?
• Pretty great, how about you?

5. What’s up? / What’s new?

Here's a very common mistake so pay attention alright? This is
an informal way of say “hi” and “What's new" at the same
time. For “what’s up?” – in pronunciation and informal spelling
(for example in texting or an informal email between friends,
you might hear/see: Sup / Whassup / Whazzup / Common
answers include:
• Not much.
• Nothing.
o Hey, what’s up!
o All the same, just thinking about going on vacation.

What about you?

6. Long time no see or It’s been a while

These casual greetings are used when you haven’t seen
someone in a long time, particularly if you meet that person
ENGLISH BITES ERIKA BELMONTE
unexpectedly. How much is a long time? It depends on how
often you normally see that person. For example, you could
use one of these greetings if you normally see the person every
week, but then don’t see them for a few months or more.
Usually, these phrases are followed with a question like “how
are you?”, “how have you been?” or “what’s new?”

Lots of greetings for today, right? How many of them were new
to you?

So, that's it for today guys. I really hope you have enjoyed
today's episode. THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your support and
for listening to this English bite. If you have any suggestion,
anything you'd like to learn from our English Bites, please let
me know alright?

If there's anyone you know that would like to receive our

English Bites, please guide them to www.englishbites.com.br
so they can subscribe and receive our English bites as well.
Take care of yourselves and I'll see you on the next one. Bye

ENGLISH BITES ERIKA BELMONTE