1. Greeting people, 2. Enquiring people, 3. Taking leave of people, 4. Greetings on special occasions

1. Greeting people

How we greet each other depends on the relationships we have with each other.

formal	semi-formal	informal
Good morning! [up to 1:30 p.m.] Good afternoon! [up to 5:30 p.m.] Good evening! [after 5.30 p.m.]	Good morning/ Morning Good afternoon/ Afternoon Good evening/ Evening	Morning Afternoon Evening

note: 1. Never use ‘good morning’ after 1:30 p.m. even if you meet someone for the first time

             in the day after 1:30 p.m.

         2. hello, hi, a wave of the hand, ‘long time no see’ are also possible informal greetings

             at any time of the day. The last phrase is of course used when you and the other person hasn't              seen each other for a long time. 

         3. Please avoid these:

              Hello, good morning!,  Hi, how do you do?, Good morning, how do you do?,

              Hello, please to meet you

             because you shouldn’t mix up greeting with introduction, because you shouldn’t mix

             up relationship levels.

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2. Enquiring people

formal	semi-formal	informal
1. How are you, Mr Kumarn/Sir?      response:      I’m fine/very well, thank you      (and you?)	How are you, Mr Kumaran? response:  Fine, thanks. And you? / I’m fine, too. Thanks.	How are you?/ How are things?/ How’s things?/ How is life?/ How are you doing? response Fine./ Okay/ OK.
2.We haven’t met for quite long.    How have you been keeping?    response    I’m fine, thank you. /    I’ve been keeping well. Thank     you. (And you?)	How have you been? response Very well, thanks	Haven’t seen you   for some time,     everything o.k.?    response Okay/ no problem/fine.
3. I hope everyone at home is fine. response:     They are, thank you.	How’s everyone at home? response All are fine, thanks.	How are your parents? response fine
4. I hope you had a nice/fine     weekend/holiday? response     Yes, we did. Thank you/ very     kind of you (to ask).	You had a nice weekend, I hope. response Oh, yes, we did. Thanks.	Had a nice weekend? response Enjoyed it. Only you were missing./ Of course. note:  'enjoy' must be followed by an object.
5. How did your marriage go? response     Very well, sir. You were     conspicuous by your       absence.	Glad to hear your marriage response went very well. God bless. / Yes, thank you.	Congrats! Sorry couldn’t be there. response Thanks.

Here you find samples for some instances where you make enquiries. What’s important is your language should reflect the relationships.

Avoid saying: ‘How are you getting on?’ as a general enquiry because ‘getting on’ only refers to a particular situation. But you can say: ‘How did you get on at the interview?’ or

‘How are you getting on in your studies?’

Don’t say: ‘how are things with you?’

Also avoid: ‘how is life treating you?’ as a general enquiry because it could be seen as too

                    personal for a formal relationship and too artificial for an informal relationship.

Note: When two friends meet after a long time, they indicate this by
          enquiry: ‘how ARE you?’  (here ‘are’ is stressed, said louder)

          response: ‘how are YOU?’ (here ‘you’ is stressed, said louder)

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 3. Taking leave of people 

Formal	semi-formal	informal
Good night. Good bye.	Good night/ Night Good bye/ Bye.	Night. Bye/ Bye-bye/ See you (soon/later)/ So long!/ Cheerio/ Cheers (,then)/ All the best./ Take care!/ Take care of yourself!/ Look after yourself!/ Have a nice day! (esp. traders to customers)

4. Greetings on special occasions

• Happy birthday! / ‘Many happy returns (of the day)!

• Happy marriage day! /  Happy wedding anniversary!

• Happy new year!  Merry Christmas! Happy Deepavali!

• Happy weekend / Have a nice weekend!

• Have a good holiday/Enjoy your vacation (informal)

   I have no doubt (I’m sure) you’ll enjoy(have) a nice weekend. (formal)

• (wedding, new baby, exam results, promotion, new house etc.)

   Congratulations! (formal) Congrats! (informal) (don’t forget to use the ‘s’)

• before an interview, a new job, exam

  Good luck/ All the best/ best of luck.

• (for future happiness) Best wishes

• (before a long journey) Have a good trip. / Bon Voyage/ safe journey

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