16 Greetings Every English Learner Should Know

One of the first things you learn when you start studying a language is how to say hello. Even though this is an important word that you will use every day, there are more ways to greet someone in English. Keep reading for 16 greetings you should know in order to sound more natural and express yourself better.

What is a greeting?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a greeting is “something friendly or polite that you say or do when you meet or welcome someone.” We also call greetings the message you send someone on special occasions, such as birthdays or Christmas. Here is one example: “My grandpa sends birthday greetings to you!”

Also, we use the word greeting to talk about the cards we buy for special occasions and holidays. These cards are called greeting cards. How often do you buy greeting cards? Are they common in your country? In the United States, Hallmark is the biggest greeting card company. You can find lots of their super creative greeting cards in stores like Target and Walmart.

Go beyond ‘hello’ with these useful greetings in English

Now, let’s go over 12 greetings you should know beyond hello. Let’s get started, shall we?

1. Informal greetings: Hey or Hi

There is nothing wrong with hello, but hey and hi are more informal ways of greeting friends and people that you meet in an informal place. Some men tend to say “Hey, man!” to their fellow male colleagues. It is also common to hear “Hi there!” instead of just “Hi”.

2. Super informal: What’s up?

This can be used as an alternative to “How are you?”, but some people just get a conversation started by saying “What’s up?”. You don;t always need to reply to this question, even though sometimes it can lead to some small talk. Common answers to “What’s up?” are “Nothing” or “Not much.” Read more about 9 ways to say “How are you?” here.

3. Pleasant greeting: Good to see you

This is a great greeting to use when you see someone you haven’t seen for a while. The variant nice to see you is also pretty common. Take a look at the dialogue below:

— Joanna?
— Yes.
— It’s me, Blair Stevens. From college.
— Oh my goodness, Blair! It’s so good to see you! How are things?
— Yeah, great to see you. It’s been a while. I’m doing great. How about you?
— I’m good. We should grab lunch sometime.
— Yes, we should. I’ll text you.
— Perfect. Really good to see you. Have a good one!
— You too, Joanna!

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4. Casual greeting: Long time no see

Similar to good to see you / nice to see you, this is commonly used when you meet someone unexpectedly and it’s been a while since you last saw that person. Common variants to this one are:

It’s been a while!
It’s been a minute!

These greetings depend on the time of the day. You would say good morning when meeting people in the time frame between 5am – 12pm. Good afternoon can be used anytime between lunchtime and 5pm. After 5pm, you should say good evening. If you are asking yourself about good night, you should know that good night is only used when you are saying goodbye to someone at night, while good evening is used to say hello to someone at night. Take a look at the dialogue below: Good evening. I have a reservation for 8pm.

— Good evening, sir. Sure. Last name?

— Smith. Table for 2.

— Great, Mr. Smith. Let me take you to your table. Come this way.

[2 hours later, after dinner]

— Thank you, sir. See you next time! Have a good night.

— Good night! Thank you.

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6. Regional greetings: Howdy

This informal greeting is an abbreviation of the expression “How do you do?”. Howdy is more commonly used in the South of the United States. Some other regional expressions are: “G’day, mate!”, which is used in Australia, and “How is the form?”, which is used in Ireland and it is used to ask how someone’s life is going.

Greetings are essential for any English learner. Saying the right greeting can make a conversation flow better. If you always use the same greeting, try to mix things up with these greetings we have just presented you. See you next time!