69 Greetings, farewells and special expressions
A Greetings*
When we are introduced to a stranger [told the name of someone we have never met] in a formal
situation, we usually shake hands and say hello, or perhaps hello, nice to meet you. In an
informal situation, we usually just say hello or hi.
When we greet friends, there are no real rules in Britain. Men may kiss female friends [girls/
women] on one cheek [side of the face], on both cheeks, or not at all. Women may kiss male
friends and female friends once, twice, or not at all. We usually say things like this:
A: Hello. How are you? B: Fine, thanks. How about you?
A: Hi. How’s it going? / How are things? (infml) B: Not (so) bad, thanks. And you?
* saying hello
B Farewells*
To someone we have just met for the first time we can say Goodbye. Nice to meet you.
With friends we can say bye, cheers (infml), take care (infml), or see you (soon/later/
tomorrow, etc.).
When we say goodbye to a school or work friend on Friday afternoon we usually say:
A: Have a nice weekend.
B: Yeah, same to you. (NOT same for you)
* saying goodbye
C Expressions for special situations
Excuse me, could I just get past? It’s your exam today, isn’t it?
Good luck. Thanks, I’ll need it.
Yes, of course.
Sue found my wallet Oh, thank
Cheers.
and my credit cards. goodness for that.
Bless you. I hear you passed your
exam. Congratulations. Thanks.
Achoo!
Language help
We use Thank goodness when we are happy that something bad did not happen. A synonym is
Thank God (infml), but there are some people who may not like the use of this expression. We can
use Goodness on its own to express surprise, e.g. Goodness, is it ten o’clock already?
144 English Vocabulary in Use Pre-intermediate and Intermediate
Exercises
69.1 Find five more phrases.
good take excuse bless luck you
thank me goodness not care bad
good luck
69.2 Complete the dialogues.
1 A: How are you?
B: Fine. How about you?
2 A: How’s it ?
B: Not . And you?
3 A: Have a nice weekend.
B: Yeah, you.
4 A: Nobody was hurt in the accident.
B: Oh, for that.
5 A: I’ll see you tomorrow.
B: Yeah, care.
6 A: I’ve just passed my exam.
B: !
7 A: I’m fine, thanks.
B: Good. And Sarah?
69.3 What could you say in these situations?
1 A friend says, ‘Have a good weekend’. What do you reply? Yeah, same to you.
2 You met a new business client for the first time fifteen minutes ago, and now you are leaving. What
do you say?
3 You are on a crowded bus. It is your stop and you want to get off. What do you say to other
passengers as you move past them?
4 A friend tells you they have just won some money. What do you say?
5 A friend is going for a job interview this afternoon. What do you say?
6 You are having a drink with friends. What do you say when you hold up your glasses to drink?
7 Someone sneezes next to you. What do you say?
69.4 Complete the sentences.
1 When you meet someone for the first time in a formal situation , what do you say?
2 When you are to someone in a formal situation, do you normally
hands?
3 What do you do and say when you friends?
4 Do you usually kiss friends? If so, is it on one or both ?
5 When you say goodbye to friends, do you use informal expressions like Cheers, or Take
? If so, what are they?
69.5 Over to you
Answer the questions in Exercise 69.4 about your country. If possible, ask someone from
a different country the same questions.
English Vocabulary in Use Pre-intermediate and Intermediate 145
