Informal Greetings

Lets start by looking at an example of a conversation between two friends that meet in the street. Since they
are already friends, their conversation is informal:
- Hello!
- Hi!
- How are you?
- Great, thanks, and you?
- Fine, thanks.
Instead of hello, we can also use hi or hey.
Usually, when someone asks us how we are, we answer fine, thanks. Thanks is a more informal way of
saying thank you.
Formal Greetings
Ok, lets see another conversation example. This time the people do not know each other and are meeting for
the first time.
- How do you do? My name is John.
- Pleased to meet you. My name is Lyndsey.
The sentence how do you do is a set phrase. This means you do not have to explain how you really are. You
can simply answer with the same expression, or with pleased to meet you.