Greetings...

Hello (also Hullo especially in British English) (British English also Hallo) is the usual word and is used in all situations, including answering the telephone.

Hi is more informal and is now very common : Hi guys! Hi, there!

How are you? Or How are you doing? (very informal) often follow Hello and Hi : ‘Hello, Mark’.’Oh, hi, Kathy! How are you?’

Good morning is often used by members of a family or people who work together when they see each other for the first time in the day. It can also be used in formal situations and on the telephone. In informal speech, people may just say Morning.

Good afternoon and Good evening are much less common. Good night is not used to greet somebody, but only to say goodbye late in the evening or when you are going to bed.

If you are meeting someone for the first time, you can say Pleased to meet you or Nice to meet you (less formal). Some people use How do you do? In formal situations. The correct reply to this is: How do you do?

Some other facts:


Hi, related to "Hiya", both being less formal for 'hello' but very widely used nowadays. "Hi" is relatively new, having become popular in the 1920s in the USA and then spread throughout English-speaking populations around the world, and even into other languages.

"Hey", has become fairly commonplace as a greeting in informal USA English, but is considered impolite in UK English to use as a greeting (Cambridge English dictionary says "used as a way of attracting someone's attention, sometimes in a way which is not very polite"; its standard usage in the UK is to express a mixture of surprise and displeasure/indignation/protest/reprimand, or else to shout (specifically not at standard spoken volume) at someone from afar prior to greeting them or else warning them about danger.

According to the Cambridge English and Collins English dictionaries "hey" is not used as a greeting, but an interjection used to express surprise (sometimes with indignation or displeasure, e.g. "Hey, stop that!" or "Hey, stop making a noise! Or "Hey, what do you think you're doing?!"), inquiry (as a prelude, thus catching attention, e.g. "Hey, have you seen this?"), interest (especially sudden, e.g. "Hey, what's going on?!"), and to call attention from a distance (e.g. Across the street, or when someone's back is turned - "Hey, didn't see you there!" or "Hey, over here!").

"Good morning", "Good afternoon", "Good evening" — More formal verbal greetings used at the appropriate time of day. Note that the similar "Good night" and "Good day" are more commonly used as phrases of parting rather than greeting. These are often abbreviated by those wishing to be less formal, e.g. Among friends or family, to 'Morning!', 'Afternoon!', 'Night!' or 'G'night!'

"Howdy" — Informal greeting. Derived from "How do you do," it is common in the rural regions of the United States. This is also the official greeting of the Texas A&M Aggies of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

"How do you do?", along with variations such as "How are ya?" (Ireland) and "Hiya"

"What's up?", "Whassup", "Sup?", "How's it going?", “How’s it hanging?” "wazap?", "Yo", and "What's happenin?" — United States.

"How's tricks?" and "How's it going?" are popular in UK English, but note that 'What's up?' in UK English means 'What's wrong?' and is therefore not a greeting.

"Howzit?" also "Howsit?"

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