Lesson 6: How to Ask “How Are You?”
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask someone how they are doing and how to answer simply. This is a great way to make your first conversations in German feel more natural.
What you’ll learn
- How to ask “How are you?”
- How to answer with simple phrases
- How to ask “And you?”
- How to understand a short basic exchange
Asking “How are you?”
Here are two common ways to ask how someone is doing:
Wie geht’s? = How are you?
Wie geht es dir? = How are you?
Wie geht’s? is short and common.
Wie geht es dir? is a little longer, but it means the same thing.
Examples:
Wie geht’s?
Wie geht es dir?
Simple answers
Here are some easy ways to answer:
Gut, danke. = Good, thank you.
Sehr gut. = Very good.
Nicht so gut. = Not so good.
Es geht. = I’m okay.
Super! = Great!
Examples:
Gut, danke.
Sehr gut.
Es geht.
Asking “And you?”
After you answer, you can ask the other person the same question.
Und dir? = And you?
Und Ihnen? = And you? (formal)
For now, focus mainly on Und dir? because it is easier and fits casual beginner conversations.
Examples:
Gut, danke. Und dir?
Sehr gut. Und dir?
A short conversation
Here is a simple example:
Anna: Hallo! Wie geht’s?
Ben: Gut, danke. Und dir?
Anna: Auch gut, danke.
One useful extra word
auch = also / too
This helps you answer naturally.
Example:
Auch gut, danke. = Also good, thank you.
You can understand this as: I’m good too, thank you.
