wie geht's
/viˈɡeːts/
The English phrase "hru" (how are you) corresponds to the German wie geht's.
wie geht's is an informal abbreviation for 'how are you' used as a greeting in text messaging.
Which one should you use?
While Wie geht's? is a shortened, casual form, you can use Wie geht es dir? for an informal version. For formal situations, you should use the standard expression Wie geht es Ihnen?
How do you pronounce it?
/viˈɡeːts/
Did you know?
- In some German regions, people answer wie geht's with muss ja, which literally means 'it must' and implies that life is simply continuing despite any hardships.
- The word wie shares a common ancestor with the English word 'why'. This reflects a deep historical connection between German and English regarding how questions are formed.
- Because wie geht's literally means 'how goes it', the 'it' refers to a non-existent, impersonal subject. In English, we say 'how are you', but in German, the person is not the subject being 'gone' through, but rather the subject of the sentence is the state of things.
Examples in context
- Guten Tag, Herr Müller. Wie geht es Ihnen?Good day, Mr. Müller. How are you?
- Guten Morgen, Frau Schneider. Wie geht es Ihnen heute?Good morning, Mrs. Schneider. How are you today?
- Sehr geehrte Frau Schmidt, wie geht es Ihnen seit unserem letzten Treffen?Dear Mrs. Schmidt, how have you been since our last meeting?
- Hallo Max, wie geht es dir?Hello Max, how are you?
- Hey Lisa, wie geht's?Hey Lisa, how're you doing?
- Hi Tom, alles klar bei dir?Hi Tom, everything okay with you?
- Hey, wie geht's?Hey, how are you?
- Hi! Wie geht's dir?Hi! How are you?
- Na, wie geht's so?So, how's it going?
Example conversation
Two friends are chatting via text message.
- SarahHey Julian, wie geht's?Hey Julian, how are you?
- JulianGut, danke! Und dir, Sarah?Good, thanks! And you, Sarah?
- SarahAuch gut.Also good.
- JulianSchön zu hören.Good to hear.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry wie geht's, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries wie, wie geht's, CC BY-SA 4.0.
