14 Ways to Answer the Question, "How's it going?" - An English Lesson
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So one of the most common greetings in the English language that I know of, one that I use every day, is the question, "How's it going?" So if I gave you the long version, it would be, "How is it going?"

but normally we just say, "How's it going?" And there are a number of different answers. So in this English lesson, I'll talk about 14 different answers to the question, "How's it going?" And I put them in different little categories like normal responses, enthusiastic responses, unenthusiastic, sarcastic, funny, et cetera, et cetera. So welcome to this English lesson about how to answer the question, "How's it going?"

Let's start by talking about what I think are three very normal responses to the question, "How's it going?" And those are good, pretty good, and not bad. These are very, very common. In fact, this is how I most often answer the question, "How's it going?" "How's it going, Bob?" "Good." "How's it going, Bob?" "Pretty good." "How's it going, Bob?" "Not bad."

And then I will add this as well, and this is true for all of the other responses I will teach you. You often also just put the word you with a question mark at the end of your response. So how's it going, Bob? Good, you? What you're doing is you're returning the question to the person who asked you that question. So how's it going, Bob? Good, you? And then you can answer the question as well.

Now, let's say your day is going extremely well and you want a more enthusiastic, a more energetic and happy response. I would probably say these three are very, very common responses. I might say great. I might say fantastic. Or I might use a whole sentence and say everything's going great.

When someone asks you this question, normally you'll give the normal answer. But yeah, if you're just having an amazing day, everything's going the way you want it to, you're happy, you just feel excited about everything. Those are the three responses you would use. Great, fantastic, and everything's going great.

Now let's say you're feeling unenthusiastic about your day. Maybe your day isn't going that well or it's just kind of blah, meaning it's kind of boring. Here are two responses you can give that are unenthusiastic. The first would be to say, "Can't complain." "How's it going, Bob?" "Hmm, can't complain." This is a short version of the sentence, "I can't complain." And it simply means the day isn't amazing, but the day's not bad. It's somewhere in the middle, "Can't complain."

The second one is to just say, "It's going." "How's it going, Bob?" "It's going." It's not an enthusiastic response. It's not a happy response. But it's not like sad or you're not aggravated or anything. It's just kind of a, I guess, blah day like I said earlier. So, two responses you can give that are unenthusiastic. You could say, "Can't complain." And you could also say, "It's going."

So these next three responses to the question, "How's it going?" are a little bit sarcastic and you might even find them funny depending on your sense of humour. The first is to simply say, "Could be worse." "How's it going, Bob?" "Could be worse." What you're saying is that your day is going okay, but there are things that if they did happen would make your day worse than it actually is. So you could respond by saying, "Could be worse." The second one is definitely sarcastic and you might find it funny.

you might say living the dream. How's it going, Bob? Living the dream. So my response is basically saying my life is amazing in a sarcastic way and I am living this life that is like my dream life. So in a sarcastic way, living the dream.

And then the third one is to say, same old, same old. How's it going, Bob? Same old, same old. Basically, what you're saying is every day is kind of the same. You get up, you have breakfast, you go to work, you go home, same old, same old. So how's it going, Bob? Same old, same old. So there's three sarcastic or maybe funny ways to respond to how's it going.

So here's a funny thing about the question, how's it going? And that's that we don't always answer honestly to coworkers and other people that we work with or see every day. Usually if I'm having a bad day and someone says, how's it going? I'll still say good or great. Even if I'm not totally having a bad day because I don't really know that person well.

But here are three ways you might answer this question if you're talking to someone who you know really, really well. So if Jen asked me, how's it going? I might respond and say, not great. I might be honest with Jen and then tell her the things that didn't go well that day.

If I was talking to my mom and she said, how's it going? I might say, oh, I've seen better days. Basically saying that other days in my life have been much better than this one. And then I might share with my mom why the day isn't going very, very well.

And then lastly, if I was talking to my brother and he said, "How's it going?" And it was a day where a lot of things were just going wrong, I might respond by saying, "It's just one thing after another." Basically saying that a bunch of bad things happened today. My car broke down, I ran out of gas, I was late for work. It's just one thing after another.

So when you're talking to colleagues or someone at a store or someone you don't know well, you will just answer by saying good or great or whatever else works. But if you're talking to someone you know and trust, you'll use things where you're just being a little bit more personal. You'll say not great, I've seen better days or it's just one thing after another.

Well, thank you for watching this English lesson. I hope the 14 ways to respond to the question, how's it going, will help you in your next English conversation when you greet someone. Remember, if this is your first time here, don't forget to click that red subscribe button. Give me a thumbs up if you enjoyed this English lesson. Leave a comment. Again, I love reading them. And have a good week. Say, how's it going to someone and see how they respond. And see if it matches some of the answers that I gave you. Bye.

Hi, Bob the Canadian here. Thank you for listening to this English podcast lesson. If you would like to support me in the work that I do as an online English teacher, please visit patreon.com slash bobthecanadian.