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"How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly way that many people greet
each other. But "How are you?" is also a very unusual question. It's a question
that often doesn't have an answer.
s "How are
are you?" the
When a person meets a friend on the
person doesn't really want to hear an
I with
wrong
what
is
(1) (7 me
street and asks
answer such as "I really don't know
I thought I had a cold.
).
I took some medicine, but that didn't help much, so I have to go to a hospital."
The person who asks "How are you?" wants to hear the answer "Fine," even if
the other person isn't ( 2 )! The reason is that "How are you?" isn't really
They are simple ways of greeting
a (3 ), and "Fine" isn't really an answer.
people and saying "( 4 )”
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Sometimes, people also don't say exactly what they mean. For example, when
someone asks "Do you agree?," the other person might be thinking "No, I
disagree. I think you're wrong." But (5) it isn't very polite to disagree so
strongly, so the other person might say, “I'm not so sure." L
say that you don't agree with someone.
It's a nicer way to
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People also don't say exactly what they are thinking when they finish
*conversations with other people. For example, many con
conversations over the phone
end when one person says, "I have to go now." Often, the person who wants to
"I have
finish the phone conversation gives an excuse: "Someone's at the door."
to *put away the *groceries." "Something is burning on the stove!" The excuse
might be real, or it might not be. Perhaps the person who wants to finish simply
doesn't want to talk any more, but it isn't very polite to say (6) that. The excuse
s more polite, and it doesn't hurt the other person's feelings.
*Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an opinion, or ending a
onversation, people often don't say exactly what they are thinking.
mportant way that people try to be nice to each other, and it's all part of the
ame of language!
It's an
*
(Express Ways 2, Pearson Longman -
