Ways to say hello and goodbye

 Here we take a look at some set expressions we use in spoken English to start and end conversations.

ways to start a conversation

You probably know and use the question 'How are you?'

You can also use these in casual spoken English:

'What's happening?'

'How's it going?'

'What's up?'

'How have you been?'

responses

Here are some typical responses to the above questions:

'What's happening?'
'Not much.'

'How's it going?'
'Not bad.'

'What's up?'
'The usual.'

'How have you been?'
'Pretty good.'

ending a conversation

These are expressions that we use when we want to show that are about to end the conversation.

'I've got to be going.'

'It's time I made a move.'

'I really must be running along.'

'Is that the time? I've got to go.'

'It's time I left.'

'I've got to get back to... work/school.'

saying goodbye

Saying 'goodbye' is a simple way of...er...saying goodbye! Here are some other simple and casual ways to say it, too.

'See you later.'

'Catch you later.'

'Take care.'

'Ta-ta','Ta-ra' and 'Cheerio' are all very common in casual in British English.