Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[nawee]

Hello,

I'm compiling sentences and phrases used in greeting. I have found alternatives to "How are you?" as follows.

How is it going?
How are you doing?
How are things?

But can you also say:

How are you going?
How are you getting on?

And what about the following questions? Can we say they are used as alternatives to "How are you"? To me, they ask about new developments in someone's life. So they are not really asking how you are.

What's up?
What's new?
What have you been up to?
(What are you up to?)

Thank you,

Nawee

[LucentShade]

"How are you getting on?" = good, though it sounds like British English to me
"How are you going?" = no, this would not be used as a "How are you?" question. We might say, "How are you going to explain this to the boss?" or "How are you going to Chicago, by car or by plane?", but those are different meanings.

[CP]

True, but I have heard Australians in the Sydney area say, "How are you going?" or "How you going?" instead of "How are you doing?"
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[nawee]

Can you say:

How have you been doing?
How have you been going?

They sound quite strange to me. The Present Continous sounds ok, but not the Present Perfect Continuous.

Thank you,

Nawee

[CP]

You can say, "How have you been doing?" as well as, "How are you doing?" The first asks about how the person has been in the recent past, while the second asks about right now.

People don't say, "How are you going?" most places, so we never hear, "How have you been going?" Maybe it will catch on someday, but for right now, I wouldn't say either of these things.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb