English Vocabulary (Small Talk): Lesson 1-Informal and Formal Greetings

Small Talk: Informal and Formal Greetings

We are kicking off this week with a subject that will pique your interest. Small Talk…does this ring a bell? Of course, it does. If it doesn’t, don’t worry. By Friday, you will know how to write a dialogue between two people in which they use Small Talk.

Today, you will learn how to greet people according to their age, status and the level of acquaintance with you.

Let’s start with a few definitions.

Greeting: It is something friendly or polite that you say when you meet someone. This is a sign of recognition or welcome.

Small Talk: A light and informal conversation that you have with someone that you know or do not know. This can be at home, at school, at work, at a party, in the street, at the stadium, in a shop– in fact anywhere you are likely to meet people and have the opportunity to talk to them. Any small talk starts with informal or formal greetings.

Informal: An informal conversation is relaxed and casual. Serious and controversial issues are carefully avoided.

Formal: A formal conversation is serious and official. You often follow a set of rules or conventions in order to do this successfully.

Different Types of Informal Greetings

Small Talk_Informal Greetings_Learn English With Africa, June 2019

You are bound to use these types of greetings with friends, casual acquantances or people that you already know.

Sample Dialogue 1:

You are walking in the street. You meet a friend who lives in another neighbourhood.

You: What’s up dude?

Friend: Not much! What about you?

You: Life is good.

Friend: Great. It’s crazy, I just met Peter on my way to the supermarket. It looks like today is my lucky day.

You: You did? That’s fantastic! Today is your lucky day indeed.

Sample Dialogue 2:

Bright is going to work. He meets a former colleague on the bus. He is very surprised.

Bright: Christopher! Hi, what have you been up to?

Christopher: Nothing much. And you?

Bright: Well, as you know, work, work and work. Do you always take this bus?

Christopher: Yes, I do. I’m now working near the stadium.

Bright: That’s nice. I also take this bus every day.

Small Talk_Informal Short Greetings_Learn English With Africa_June 2019 (Opposite of Formal Greetings)

Explanation: Slang words such as ‘Yo‘ are used by young people or teenagers. They are not very common.

Different Types of Formal Greetings

You will greet someone in a formal way if you do not know them very well. This type of greeting can also be done in an official context, in a situation where you are meeting someone for the first time or, in certain cultures, when you are addressing an elderly person.

Sample Dialogue 1:

You are at a conference organised by your company which has branches all over the country. There are also workers from other companies. This is a great networking opportunity. It is break time and you find yourself standing next to a young man. You start the conversation:

You: Hello, how is everything going?

Young man: Oh, everything is good , thank you. What about you?

You: It’s alright. This is a great conference, isn’t it?

Young man: Yes, it. I did not expect to see so many people. I am sure we will learn quite a lot from this experience.

You: No doubt about that.