hey, wie geht's?
The English phrase "hey, how are you?" can be translated into German as hey, wie geht's?
hey, wie geht's? is an informal greeting used to ask someone about their well-being.
What does it mean word for word?
The part wie geht's? is a contraction of wie geht es?, which literally means "how goes it?"
Which one should you use?
While hey, wie geht's? is informal, the appropriate formal way to ask someone how they are is wie geht es Ihnen?
How does it change in a sentence?
The contracted form wie geht's? can be expanded to wie geht es dir? when addressing one person informally.
When do people say it?
A common and natural response to wie geht's? is Gut, danke! (Good, thanks!).
Did you know?
- In very casual settings, Germans may shorten wie geht's? even further to just na? This single word can function as both the question 'how are you?' and the answer 'I am fine'.
- If you want to sound more like a local in Northern Germany, you might swap hey, wie geht's? for the regional Moin!, which works as a greeting at any time of day.
- The word wie is a distant relative of the English word 'why'. They both share a common ancestor in the Proto-Germanic language, though they evolved to mean different things in German and English.
Examples in context
- Guten Tag! Wie geht es Ihnen?Hello! How are you?
- Hallo! Wie geht's?Hi! How are you?
- Hi! Wie läuft's?Hi! How's it going?
- Guten Tag zusammenHello everyone
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a cafe.
- MaximilianHey, wie geht's?Hey, how are you?
- HannahMir geht es gut, danke!I am doing well, thanks!
- MaximilianDas freut mich sehr.I am very glad to hear that.
- HannahUnd bei dir, Maximilian?And how about you, Maximilian?
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries wie, CC BY-SA 4.0.
