What answers can there be for 'How are you?'

Hi,

I'd like to know what kinds of answers can I say when someone said 'how are you?' to me?

I'm fine thank you

Americans are fine thank you even they are not fine . I have no idea why they answered I'm fine thank you, even they've lost someone from their family. Probably it's cultural stuff. I never understand that. When I'm not smiling on the street they asked me if everything is fine. They stay positive. I do like that. In one way or another. But in other way it's something called evangelical individualism. this who knows that will explain me that. There aren't curtain on the windows because there is nothing hidden behind. Apart from the family it exist only me. Someone have to explain me that. I never got it.

You too.

For Americans, it's more not wanting to bother someone in passing with your own problems. If you're walking across campus for a class and someone asks how you are, it's just easier to say "fine, how are you?" rather than stopping and saying something like "oh, actually I didn't get much sleep and I didn't have time to get my coffee this morning, and my homework is just piling up..." and so on.

A lot of Americans respond "not bad" but "fine" or "good" would work well. Also, some respond with "well" instead of "good," but that really depends on dialect as it could be argued either good (as a predicate adjective) or well (which, I believe, would be the response in the Romance languages that English for so long tried to emulate). I believe you hear "well" more in Britain.

I'm good
fine
etc.

"How are you" sometimes simply means "hello"

You must be able to read the persons face, to know if they are really asking you or if they are simply saying hello....


You could say:

Hi, hello

I'm fine

Fucking good