how are you

how are you

English

English phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness. For other English entries on this topic, see Greetings.

Alternative forms

• HRU (initialism)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /haʊ ˈɑː juː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /haʊ ˈɑɹ ju/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /hæɔ ˈaː jʉː/, /hæɔ ˈaː jə/

  • Audio (AU)

    (file)

Phrase

how are you?

1. (idiomatic) An informal greeting, not requiring a literal response. In form a question, and thus followed by a question mark. Typical responses include:

   I'm very well, thank you. How are you? (formal)

   I'm fine, thank you.

   Fine, thanks. (informal)

   Fine, and you? (informal)

2. (idiomatic, Ireland) (Following a noun phrase; stress on are) An expression of derision, that the preceding referent is unworthy of the name. In form an exclamation, and thus often followed by an exclamation mark.
   • 1967 July 20: Questions. Oral Answers. — Free Travel for Old Age Pensioners. Dáil Éireann debates

     • Mr. Dunne: "A small point", says the Minister for Justice.
     • Mr. Ryan: Justice, how are you! He would not recognise it in this world or the next.

   • 2013 December 31 "'Christmas how are you! We'll remember this one for a while'" Gorey Guardian

     'Christmas how are you!' exclaimed Jim O'Hanlon ruefully. 'We will remember this one for quite a while anyway.' He was grateful that at least no one was injured in the incident.

Synonyms

• (informal greeting)
  • how do you do? (more formal)
  • how are you doing? (about same formality)
  • how's it going?, how's tricks?, what's up? (more informal)
  • how's it hanging? (slang)
  • See also Thesaurus:how are you
• (expression of derision)
  • my foot!, my eye!, my arse!, my ass!
  • indeed!

Translations

greeting

Abkhaz: ушԥа́ҟоу (uŝpáqʼow), бышԥа́ҟоу (bəŝpáqʼow) Adyghe: дауэ ущыт? (daawe wuśət?) Afrikaans: hoe gaan dit? Albanian: si jeni? (formal), qysh je? (informal) Arbëresh: si rrini? (formal) si rri? (informal) American Sign Language: BentB@BackFinger-PalmBack-BentB@CenterChesthigh-PalmBack C@Ulnar-PalmUp-C@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp 1@CenterChesthigh-TipFingerForward Amharic: እንደምን አለህ (ʾəndämn ʾäläh) (to a male), እንደምን አለሽ (ʾəndämn ʾäläš) (to a female), እንደምን አላችሁ pl (ʾəndämn ʾälačhu) Apache: Jicarilla: haʼáńsį Arabic: كَيْف الْحال؟‎ (kayf al-ḥāl?), كَيْفَ حَالُكَ؟‎ (ar) (kayfa ḥāluka?) (to a male, formal), كَيْف حَالَك؟‎ (ar) (kayf ḥālak?) (to a male, informal); كَيْفَ حَالُكِ؟‎ (ar) (kayfa ḥāluki?) (to a female, formal), كَيْف حَالِك؟‎ (ar) (kayf ḥālik?) (to a female, informal) Egyptian Arabic: إِزَّيَّك؟‎ m (izzáyyak?) (to a male); إِزَّيِّك؟‎ f (izzáyyik?) (to a female) Hijazi Arabic: كيفَك؟‎ m (kēfak?) (to a male); كيفِك؟‎ f (kēfik?) (to a female) Mesopotamian Arabic: شْلُونَك؟‎ m (šlōnak?) (to a male); شْلُونَك؟‎ f (šlōnik?), شْلُونَك؟‎ f (šlōnič?) (to a female) Moroccan Arabic: لا باس؟‎ (lā bās?), كي داير‎ (kī dāyer) (to a male), كي دايرة‎ (kī dāyra) (to a female), كيف عامل‎ (kīf ʕāmel) (to a male), كيف عاملة‎ (kīf ʕāmla) (to a female) North Levantine Arabic: كِيفَك؟‎ m (kīfak?) (to a male); كِيفِك؟‎ m (kīfik?) (to a female) Aramaic: Eastern: ܕܟ ܐܝܘܬ؟ (dakh ewot?)(singular male), (dakh ewat?)(singular female), (dakh ewoton?)pl Western: Arapaho: kooni'ííni? Armenian: ինչպե՞ս ես (inčʿpe?s es) (singular), ո՞նց ես (o?ncʿ es) (singular), ինչպե՞ս եք (inčʿpe?s ekʿ) (polite or plural), ո՞նց եք (o?ncʿ ekʿ) (polite or plural) Assamese: আপোনাৰ ভালনে? (apünar bhalone?) (formal), তোমাৰ ভালনে? (tümar bhalone?) (familiar), তোৰ ভালনে? (tür bhalone?) (informal), আপুনি ভালে আছেনে? (apuni bhale asene?) (formal), তুমি ভালে আছানে? (tumi bhale asane?) (familiar), তই ভালে আছনে? (toi bhale asone?) (informal), কি খবৰ? (ki khobor?) (familiar, informal), আপুনি কেনে আছে? (apuni kene ase?) (formal), তুমি কেনে আছা? (tumi kene asa?) (familiar), তই কেনে আছ? (toi kene as?) (informal) Asturian: cómo tas, qué faes Atayal: lokah su ga Azerbaijani: necəsən c ((informal)) Bashkir: хәлдәр нисек? (xäldär nisek?) Basque: Zer moduz? Belarusian: як спра́вы? (jak správy?), як пажыва́еш? (jak pažyváješ?) (informal), як пажыва́еце? (jak pažyvájecje?) (formal or plural) Bengali: (formal) আপনি কেমন আছেন ? (bn) (apôni kemônô achen ?), (familiar) তুমি কেমন আছো ? (bn) (tumi kemônô acho ?), (intimate) তুই কেমন আছিস ? (bn) (tui kemônô achis ?) Bikol Central: kumusta na? Bulgarian: как си? (kak si?) (informal), как сте? (kak ste?) (formal or plural) Burmese: နေကောင်းရဲ့လား။ (nekaung:rai.la:||), နေကောင်းလား။ (nekaung:la:||) Catalan: com estàs?, (formal) com està?, (informal) com va? Cebuano: kumusta?, kumusta na ka? Central Dusun: nunu kabar? Central Sierra Miwok: miṭip·kur Chamorro: kao mamaolek ha' hao (informal), håfa tatatmanu hao (formal) Chechen: муха ду гӏуллакхаш? (muxa du ğullaqaš?) Cherokee: ᏙᎯᏧ? (dohitsu?) Chichewa: muli bwanji? Chickasaw: hallito chokma chinchokma Chinese: Cantonese: 你好嗎？ (yue), 你好吗？ (nei5 hou2 maa3?) Dungan: задини? (zadini?), задигә? (zadigə?), ни хо ма? (ni ho ma?), ни җўди хома? (ni žwdi homa?) Hakka: 你好冇 (ngì-hó-mò / nì-hó-mò / ǹ-hó-mò / ǹg-hó-mò) Mandarin: 你好嗎？／你好吗？ (zh) (nǐhǎo ma?) (informal singular) Min Nan: 你好無？, 你好无？ (lí hó bô?) Wu: 儂好𠲎？, 侬好𠲎？ (non hau va?) Cornish: fatla genes Crimean Tatar: nasılsıñız? (formal) Czech: jak se máš (cs)? (informal singular), jak se máte (cs)? (formal or plural) Dakota: token yauŋ he? Danish: hvordan har du det?, hvordan går det? Deori: dakiya chuina? (formal), noi chuina? (familiar) Dutch: hoe gaat het?, hoe is het?, (informal) alles goed? Esperanto: kiel vi fartas? Estonian: kuidas läheb?, kuidas käsi käib? (informal) Faroese: hvussu gongur? Finnish: kuinka voitte (fi)? (formal), kuinka voit (fi)? (less formal), miten menee (fi)? (informal), mitä kuuluu? (fi) French: comment allez-vous ? (fr) (formal or plural), comment vas-tu ? (fr) (informal singular), ça va ? (fr) (informal), comment ça va ? (fr) (informal) Galician: como está? Garo: namengama? Georgian: როგორა ხარ? (rogora xar?) (informal singular), როგორ ბრძანდებით? (rogor brʒandebit?) (formal or plural) German: wie geht es dir (de)? (informal), wie geht es Ihnen? (formal singular/plural), wie geht es? / wie geht’s? (de), wie geht es euch? (informal plural) Greek: (informal, singular) τι κάνεις; (ti káneis?), (formal, plural) τι κάνετε; (ti kánete?), (informal, singular) πώς είσαι; (pós eísai?), (formal, plural) πώς είστε; (pós eíste?) Ancient: τί πράσσεις (tí prásseis), πῶς ἔχεις (pôs ékheis) Green Hmong: koj nyob le caag lawm? Gujarati: તમે કેમ છો (tame kem cho)? (tame kem chho) (formal), કેમ છે (kem che)? (kem chhe) (informal) Hawaiian: pehea ʻoe? Hebrew: ?מה שלומך‎ (ma shlomkha?) (singular male), (ma shlomekh?) (singular female), (ma shlomkhem?) (plural male), (ma shlomkhen?) (plural female) Hiligaynon: kamusta?, kamusta ka? Hindi: आप कैसे हैं ? (āp kaise ha͠i ?) (formal), कैसे हो ? (kaise ho ?) (informal), क्या हाल है ? (kyā hāl hai ?), कैसा चल रहा है ? (kaisā cal rahā hai ?) Hungarian: hogy vagy? (hu) (informal), hogy van? (hu) (formal) Hunsrik: alles gut Icelandic: hvað segirðu gott? (informal), hvað segir þú gott (is)? (informal), hvað segiði gott? (informal and plural), hvað segið þið gott? (informal and plural), hvað segið þér gott? (formal, singular and plural), hvað segirðu? (singular and informal), hvað segir þú (is)? (singular and informal), hvernig hefurðu það?, hvað syngur í þér? Ido: quale vu standas (io)? Indonesian: apa kabar (id) Irish: (singular) conas atá tú?, (plural) conas atá sibh?, (singular, Munster) conas tánn tú?, (plural, Munster) conas tánn sibh?, (singular, Connacht) cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?, (plural, Connacht) cén chaoi a bhfuil sibh?, (singular, Ulster) cad é mar atá tú?, (plural, Ulster) cad é mar atá sibh? Italian: come stai? (informal), come sta? (formal) Iu Mien: yiem longx nyei saah?, yiem longx nyei fai? Japanese: お元気ですか (ja) (おげんきですか, ogenki desu ka) (polite), ご機嫌いかがですか (ごきげんいかがですか, go-kigen ikaga desu ka) (formal) Jeju: 펜안ᄒᆞᆸ데강? (Penanhawpdegang?) (polite), 펜안헨? (Penanhen?) (casual), 펜안헷인야? (Penanhedinya?) (casual), 어떵 살아져ᇝ우과? (Eotteong sarajyeomsugwa?) (polite), 어떵 살아ᇝ어? (Eotteong saramseo?) (casual) Jingpho: hkam kaja ai i? Kannada: ನೀವು ಹೇಗಿದ್ದೀರ? (nīvu hēgiddīra?) Kapampangan: komusta, komusta naka?, komusta nakayo?, mipakananu naka?, mipakananu nakayo?, Karachay-Balkar: къалайса? (qalaysa?) Kazakh: қалайсың? (qalaisyñ?) Khmer: សុខសប្បាយជាទេ? (sok sapbaay ciə tei?) Kikuyu: wĩ mwega? Korean: 처음 뵙겠습니다. (Cheo'eum boepgetseumnida.) (formal), 어떻게 지내세요? (Eotteoke jinaeseyo?), 잘 지냈어요? (Jal jinaesseoyo?), 안녕하세요? (ko) (Annyeonghaseyo?) (polite), 안녕하십니까? (Annyeonghasimnikka?) (formal), 안녕? (ko) (Annyeong?) (casual) Kumyk: ишлер нечикдир (işler neçikdir) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: چۆنی‎ (çonî), چۆنی باشی‎ (çonî başî) Ladin: co vala pa? Lakota: toníkhetu he?, toúŋkhetupi he? pl Lao: ສະບາຍດີບໍ່ (sa bāi dī bǭ)? Latgalian: kai vadās?, kai tev vadās? (informal), kai jums vadās? (formal), kai dzeivoj? (informal), kai dzeivojat? (formal) Latin: quid agis?, quomodo es? Latvian: kā iet?, kā tev iet? (informal), kā klājas?, kā jums klājas? (formal) Lithuanian: kaip tau sekasi? Louisiana Creole French: komen to yê?, komen ça va?, komen lê zafær? Low German: German Low German: woans geiht di dat?, woans geiht? Ludian: kutt elät? Luo: ithi nadi (to one person), uthi nadi (to multiple people) Macedonian: ка́ко си? (káko si?) (informal or singular), ка́ко сте? (káko ste?) (formal or plural), што правиш (što praviš), што правите (što pravite) Malay: apa khabar (ms) Malayalam: എങ്ങനെയിരിക്കുന്നു? (eṅṅaneyirikkunnu?) Maltese: kif int? sg, kif intkom? pl Mandinka: i be nyaadi Manx: (singular informal) kys t'ou, (plural or formal singular) kys ta shiu Mapudungun: kümelkaleymi Miskito: nahkisma? Mohawk: oh niiohtonhátie?, skennen’kó:wa ken? Mongolian: сайн байна уу? (mn) (sajn bajna uu?), сонин сайхан юу байна вэ? (sonin sajxan juu bajna ve?) Moroccan Amazigh: ⵎⴰⵏ ⵣⴰⴽⵉⵏ (man zakin) (to a male) Mòcheno: bia geat s? Navajo: ąąʼ haʼíí baa naniná? Ngazidja Comorian: haɓari ?, hufanyiha dje ?, ngawe dje ?, hukaantsi dje? Nootka: wiikšahik Norman: coume tchi que l'affaire va? (Guernsey) Northern Qiandong Miao: Mongx vut hol? Northern Sami: mii gullo?, mo manná? (informal) Norwegian: Bokmål: hvordan står det til?, hvordan går det?, hvordan har du det? Nynorsk: korleis går det?, korleis har du det?, korleis står det til? Occitan: va plan ? Ojibwe: aaniin ezhi-ayaayan? Old English: hū færest þū? Palauan: ke ua ngerang? Pashto: څنگه يې؟‎ Persian: (familiar and colloquial) حالت چطوره؟‎ (hâlet četor-e?), چطوری؟‎ (fa) (četóri?); (polite and colloquial) حال شما چطوره؟‎ (hâl-e šomâ četor-e?), حالتان چطوره؟‎ (hâletân četor-e?); (polite and formal) حال شما چطور است؟‎ (hâl-e šomâ četor ast?), حالتان چطور است؟‎ (hâletân četor ast?), حالت خوبه؟‎ (hâlet xube?) Pitcairn-Norfolk: whutta-waye? Polish: jak się masz? (singular), jak się macie? (plural); co słychać?; co u ciebie? (singular), co u was? (plural) Portuguese: como vai? como está? (formal), como estás? (informal), como você vai?, tudo bem? (pt) Quechua: imainallam kackanki? Romani: sar san (to one person), sar sen (to more than one person), so maj keres (to one person), so maj keren (to more than one person) Romanian: ce mai faceți? (formal), ce mai faci? (informal) Russian: как дела́? (ru) (kak delá?), как пожива́ешь? (kak poživáješʹ?) (informal), как пожива́ете? (kak poživájete?) (formal or plural) Samoan: ʻo ā mai ʻoe? Santali: ᱚᱠᱟ ᱞᱮᱠᱟ ᱢᱮᱱᱟᱢᱟ? (ôka leka menama?) Scots: hoo are ye?, whit like? Scottish Gaelic: ciamar a tha thu? (informal singular), ciamar a tha sibh? (plural or formal singular), (singular, Argyll) dè mar a tha thu?, (plural, Argyll) dè mar a tha sibh? Semai: ma igah Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: како си? (informal singular), како сте? (formal or plural) Roman: kako si? (informal singular), kako ste? (formal or plural) Sinhalese: කොහොමද සැප සනිප (kohomada sæpa sanipa) Slovak: ako sa máš? (informal or singular), ako sa máte? (formal or plural) Slovene: kako si? (informal or singular), kako ste? (formal or plural) Southern Qiandong Miao: Moux chud jib nangd? Southern Sami: guktie veasoeh Spanish: ¿cómo está? (formal), ¿cómo estás? (informal), ¿qué tal? (informal) Sranan Tongo: fa a waka?, fa a e go?, fa yu tan?, fa fu yu?, fa yu de?, ofa? (informal), fa (informal) Svan: მაგვართ ხარი? (magvart xari?), იმჟი ხარი? (imži xari?) Swahili: habari gani?, hujambo Swedish: hur är det? (informal), hur är läget? (informal), hur står det till?, hur mår du? Tagalog: kumusta (tl)?, kumusta ka?, kumusta ka na? Tamil: எப்படி இருக்கீங்க (eppaṭi irukkīṅka), சௌக்கியமா? (caukkiyamā?) (literally "are you well"?) Tashelhit: ⵎⴰⵏ ⵣⴰⴽⵉⵏ (man zakin) (to a male), please add this translation if you can (to a female) Telugu: ఎలా ఉన్నారు (elā unnāru) Tetum: please add this translation if you can Tetun Dili: please add this translation if you can Thai: สบายดีไหม (sà-baai dii mǎi) Tongan: fēfē hake? Tswana: o tsogile jang Turkish: nasılsınız? (formal), nasılsın? (informal) Turkmen: gurgunmyň Ukrainian: як спра́ви? (jak správy?), як ся маєш? (jak sja maješ?) (informal), як ся маєте? (jak sja majete?) (informal plural) Urdu: آپ کیسے ہیں؟‎ (āp kaise ha͠i?) (formal), کیسے ہو؟‎ (kaise ho?) (informal) Uzbek: qalaysan? Veps: kut elät? Vietnamese: khoẻ không?, khoẻ chứ?, dạo này sao? Volapük: lio stadol-li? Votic: kui meneb? Võro: kuis lätt? Walloon: ké novele? (wa), ké novele a Lidje? (wa) (informal), ça vos va? (wa) Welsh: sut wyt ti? (informal), sut dach chi? (formal) West Frisian: hoe giet it?, hoe is it mei dy?, hoe is it mei jo? (formal) White Hmong: koj puas nyob zoo? Winnebago: jaanįsge raje? Xhosa: unjani? Yiddish: וואָס הערט זיך בײַ דיר?‎ (vos hert zikh bay dir?) (informal), וואָס מאַכסטו?‎ (vos makhstu?) (familiar), וואָס מאַכט איר?‎ (vos makht ir?) (formal), וואָס מאַכט אַ ייִד?‎ (vos makht a yid?) (casual, to another Jew), וואָס טוט זיך?‎ (vos tut zikh?) (casual), וואָס הערט זיך?‎ (vos hert zikh?) Yoruba: ṣé àlàáfíà l'ẹ wà? (polite), ṣé àlàáfíà ni?, ṣé dáadáa ni?, báwo ni? (casual) Yucatec Maya: ¿bix a beel? Yup'ik: qaillun ayuqsit?, cangacit? Zazaki: senin ê?, hal kêf Zulu: unjani? (zu) (singular), ninjani? (plural)

Anagrams

• who are you