How many times we meet friends, clients, customers, and others every day?

Of course a lot, right? And then what should we say when we meet someone and greet them? And
what should we say when we end the communication nicely.
There are many expressions we can use to greet someone and end the communication from formal
to informal ways.

1. Greeting.
There are two ways to greet others, formal or informal way. It is important to know the common
greetings and how to use the expressions properly and confidently.

What is greeting?
The greeting is a salutation upon meeting someone or an expression of good wishes. In other
words to greet someone or to extend a polite word of welcome.

Formal VS Informal Greeting

Formal Greeting Informal Greeting

Use informal situations like greet someone Use in most informal situations like
we respect, formal classroom, when you greet your close friends in
presentation, etc. schoolyard, or to someone you meet
on the streets

Expressions Expressions

1. Hello. 1. Hi!

2. How are you? 2. Hey!

3. Good morning. 3. What’s up?

4. Good afternoon. 4. Howdy!

5. Good evening. 5. What’s new?

6. What are you doing? 6. What’s going on?

7. It’s nice to meet you. 7. How is it going?

8. How is it going? 8. How are things?

9. How are you doing? 9. How is everything

10. Good to see you. 10. How’s life?

11. It is a pleasure to meet you. 11. Long time no see!

12. How do you do? 12. It’s good to see you

13. It’s an honor to meet you.

14. Nice to meet you.

Examples Examples

Mr. Han (arriving at his class): Ghania:

“Good morning, students. How are you “Hi, Ratu. What’s new?
today”
Ratu:
Students:
“G’day (short of good day), how are
“Good morning sir, we are very well, thank things?”
you!

Then, how we respond to them properly? Look to the table down below:

Formal Greetings Responses

Expressions Responses
Hello. Hello.

How are you? I’m fine. Thank

you!

Good morning. Good morning.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon.

Good Evening. Good Evening

How do you do? How do you do?

What are you doing? I’m doing well.

Thank you!

How is everything? Everything is fine.

Thank you.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

It’s nice to meet you?

Good to see you. Good to see you

too.
 Informal Greetings Responses

Expressions Responses

What’s up? Pretty well.

How are things? Not bad.

How is it going? Well nothing special.

How is life? It’s pretty good, thanks.

What’s new? Nothing much.

What’s cracking? Great.

How have you been? I’ve been fine.

Some expressions can be used in formal or informal situations like “How is it going”, “Good
morning”, etc. you can modify the response as your situation.

What to do when we greet others?

For the formal situation you can do these below:

- It’s good to start with a sincere smile.

- Offer a firm handshake.

For an informal situation or a person is your old friend, you might:

- Give a hug.

- Say extra words.

- Or anything else you usually do.

 What not to say when we greet others?
- Have you lost weight?

- How old are you?

- Any questions or statements are private for them.

2. Leave Taking / Parting

Leave taking or parting usually used if we part with someone we know. Please take a look to the
table below how to leave taking and its responses.

These are for formal situations.

Expressions Responses

Good bye. Good bye/take care.

See you tomorrow. See you.

See you later. See you.

See you next (week, day, month, etc) See you.

Sorry, I have to go now. Never mind, see you.

I’ll talk to you later. Sure, see you later.

It’s been nice talking to you. So long.

I think I must go now. Bye.

Let’s hope we meet again soon. See you.

These are for informal situations.

Expressions Responses

So long for now Bye now

Bee seeing you Bee seeing you too

Have a nice day Thanks and you too

Have a good trip Thanks

Give regard to your . . . Sure, I will

Take care of your self I will

Be careful. Sure

Examples of Greeting and Leave Taking Dialog.

Mr. Han : Good morning students

Students : Good morning sir

Mr. Han : How are you today?

Students : We are fine. And you?

Mr. Han : Fine too.

Gaffar : Hi, Putri!

Putri : Hi, Gaffar.

Gaffar : How are you doing?

Putri : Pretty well. By the way. Where are you

going?

Gaffar : I’m going to the swimming pool. Will

you join me?

Putri : Oh, sorry I must help my father in the

studio.

Gaffar : It’s okay. See you next time.

Putri : See you. Have a nice day.

 Thanking
Definition of Thank
According to merriamwebster thank (v) is express gratitude or to tell someone that you are
grateful for something that he or she has done or given.

These are some expressions to thank;

 Thank you.
 I’d like to thank you for . . .
 Thanks a lot
 Thank you for . . .
 Thanks.

And these are responses to thank;

 Don’t mention it.
 Not at all
 Any time
 My pleasure
 You are welcome

Examples of thanking in the sentence.

“There is no need to thank me. I enjoyed doing it.”
“Thank you for making me feel better.”
“No, thank you. I’ve enough.”
“My child speaks highly of you. Thank you very much.”
“I’d like to thank you for supporting me”

Some phrases to thank.

 to thank for
have/has + someone or something + to thank for + something
 Used to say that someone or something is responsible for something.
Examples;
“I have her to thank for my life.
“I have my parents to thank for my success.
“The television show has young audiences to thank for its success.”

 thanks/gratitude to
owes a debt of gratitude/thanks to . . .
To have good reason to be very grateful to (someone).
Examples;
“I owe a debt of gratitude to my teachers.”
“I owe a debt of gratitude to all my family.”
“We all owe a debt of gratitude to Mrs. Han, who kindly donated the money for the
project.”

 Thank God/goodness/heaven(s)/the Lord

Used to express happiness or relief that something did or did not happen.
Examples;
“Thank God nobody was hurt in the accident.”
“The kidnappers didn’t harm him, thank God.”
“Thank God the coronavirus is ended. We are safe now.”

 Thank one’s lucky stars

To be very grateful.
Examples;
“You should thank your lucky stars that you have a friend like her.”
“Thank your lucky stars the boy wasn’t hurt.”
“Just thank your lucky stars you weren’t in the house at the time.”

 Thanks a bunch/lot/million
Often used in an ironic way to say that one is not pleased that someone has done or said
something.
 Examples;
“Thanks a bunch for the drink.”
“Thanks a lot for your present.”
"Thanks a million for your help.”

Apologizing
Definition of Apologizing
To express regret for something done or said.

Cite from merriamwebster.

“The earliest uses of apologize more often meant to offer an excuse or defense, than to
acknowledge a fault.”

Expressions to apologize.
 Forgive me for . . .
 I’m sorry for . . .
 We apologize for . . .

And these are the responses to apologize;

 That’s alright.
 Never mind.
 It’s OK.

Examples asking for apologizes in sentences;

“I must apologize for my outrageous behavior.”
“I apologize if your enjoyment of the movie was spoiled.”
“Please forgive me for coming so late.”
“I am sorry for what I’ve done.”
“He apologized to his teammates for his mistake.”
You can try different ways to thank and apologize to others.

Here are what people usually say to respond to an apology.

 That’s all right. I forgive you
 There's no need to apologise. Let’s forget it.
 I accept your apology, so don’t worry.
 Well, let’s just forget it.
 Yes. We should let bygones be bygones.

Note:
You may also feel sorry when you can't fulfill someone's request.

 I'm sorry I can't. I'm busy myself.

 I'm sorry, but I'm using it.

You can also say 'sorry' to show shympathy

 I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you can find it soon.

 I'm sorry about your father's death

Summary / Rangkuman Materi Thanking and Apologizing.

These are some expressions to thank
· Thank you.
· I’d like to thank you for . . .
· Thanks a lot
· Thank you for . . .
· Thanks.
These are responses to thank;
· Don’t mention it.
· Not at all
· Any time
· My pleasure
· You are welcome
Expressions to apologise.
· Forgive me for . . .
· I’m sorry for . . .
· We apologise for . . .
And these are the responses to apologise;
· That’s alright.
· Never mind.
· It’s OK.
Here are what people usually, say to respond to an apology.
· That’s all right. I forgive you
· There's no need to apologise. Let’s forget it.
· I accept your apology, so don’t worry.
· Well, let’s just forget it.
 · Yes. We should let bygones be bygones.

Answer these following questions briefly.

1. When do you say ‘sorry’?

Answer: _________________________________________
2. What expressions can be used to apologise?
a. _________________________________________
b. _________________________________________
c. _________________________________________
3. Besides saying ‘sorry’, what do you do to apologise?
a. _________________________________________
b. _________________________________________
c. _________________________________________
4. Name several informal ways of saying sorry.
a. _________________________________________
b. _________________________________________
c. _________________________________________
5. Saying ‘Oops, sorry.’ May sound sarcastic. Why?
_________________________________________

Complete the following dialogue with the sentences in the boxes.

My bad Oh, too bad Are you sure?

Some pages are dirty. Did you bring my comic

Hendy : Hi Silma!

Silma : Hi, Hendy

Hendy : (1) ____________________________

Silma : Yeah. Here is the comic, but . . .

Hendy : What’s wrong?

Silma : (2) ____________________________ . I’m really sorry.

Hendy : How come>

Silma : I don’t know, I guess my little sister made them dirty.

 Hendy : (3) ____________________________ . This is my favourite.

Silma : (4) ____________________________. I’ll buy you a new one.

Hendy : No. That’s all right.

Silma : (5) ____________________________

Hendy : Yes, but next time you have to be more careful.

Silma : I will. Thank you very much, Hendy.

How would you express gratitude in the following situations?

Example
Someone has given you a gift for your birthday.
Thank you very much. I really like it.
1. Someone has just bought you dinner.
______________________________________________
2. Someone has returned your lost wallet.
______________________________________________
3. Someone has helped you carry your grocery bags.
______________________________________________
4. Someone has just paid you a compliment on your necktie.
______________________________________________

Works in paris. Practise expressing gratitude and apology, and responding. Use the
following situations.

Example

You forgot to return your friend’s book on time.

A: I’m sorry for forgetting to return your book on time. I’m really sorry.

B: That’s all right.

A: Thanks

1. Your friend has given you a birthday present.

2. Your father has given you some money.
3. The headteacher has given you a reward for your achievement.
4. You didn’t attend your friend’s birthday party last night.
5. You cannot answer your teacher’s question.
6. You broke your friend’s racket.