A coluna English Corner está de volta e o professor Brian Bowen estréia com a dica para quem ainda erra na hora de responder a simples saudações.

Hey, how you all doing?

I wanted to start this column in an informal way to create a friendly tone for the readers. But it’s surprising—at least for me—how many people have trouble with something as basic as a greeting in English. Canadians usually prefer to be casual in their relationships with each other. When meeting a peer or someone at a party for the first time, using an informal greeting is friendlier. These greetings fall into three general categories:

1. “Hi” or “Hello”. Respond with the same.
2. “What’s happening?” or “What’s up?” Respond with: “Not much” or “Nothing”.
3. “How are you doing?” or “How’s it going?” Respond with: “Good”, “Not Bad”, or “OK”.

Given names are then often exchanged.

The typical greetings found in textbooks are more common in business and other professional situations. In day to day situations, “Nice to meet you” is frequently used as a way to say good-bye, as in “It was nice meeting you.”

“How do you do?” is uncommon except in the most formal situations. Also, don’t confuse “How do you do?” with “How are you?”

Answer “How do you do?” with “How do you do?” NOT with “Fine, thank you.”

Another point to be aware of is that it’s best to respond to a greeting with another on the same level; for example, if somebody says, “I’m glad to meet you”, respond with “I’m glad to meet you, too.” It’s usually okay to reply to a formal greeting with an informal one—it shows you would like to be friends—but never reply to an informal greeting with a formal one (eg. Don’t say “How do you do?” if someone said “Hi. How are you?”). Doing this will make people think that you are snobbish.

Greetings are the first step in forming relationships with other people, so it’s important to know the ground rules. However don’t let the fear of making a mistake stop you from trying. As with everything else, the only way to succeed is to practice, practice, practice.

Born and raised in Toronto, Brian Bowen has a BFA in Creative Writing from York University. He has been teaching English for almost 25 years as a high school English teacher, and as an ESL instructor at Seneca College and with the Japan YMCA. He currently owns and runs the Canadian Academic Success School, 5308A Yonge St. (near North York station). You can contact Brian at (416) 768-8456 or Brian@CanadianAcademicSuccess.com, or visit his website at CanadianAcademicSuccess.com