How to Answer the Question “How Have You Been?” in Fluent ...

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“How have you been?” is a common question from native English speakers. It's asking what you have been up to and how life has been for you from from a ... HomeEnglishGrammarHowtoAnswertheQuestion“HowHaveYouBeen?”inFluentEnglish Howhaveyoubeen? “Howhaveyoubeen?”isacommonquestionfromnativeEnglishspeakers.It’saskingwhatyouhavebeenuptoandhowlifehasbeenforyoufromfromacertainpointintime.Perhapsyou’rebeingaskedhowyou’vebeendoingsincethelasttimeyousaweachother.Ormaybesincethelasttimeyouspokeonthephone.Oritcouldalsobesincethelasttimeyousenteachotherprivatemessagesonline.  Youcanseethatit’s usedinasimilarwayas“howareyou?”However,youranswerneedstobealittlebitdifferent. WhentoUsetheQuestion“Howhaveyoubeen?”  Butbeforewetalkabouthowtoanswerthisquestion,let’stalkaboutwhentouseorwhentoaskthisquestion.Tobegin,therearetwothingstoremember:  First,onlyaskthisquestionifyouhavemetsomeonepreviously. Second,onlyaskthemifyouhavenotseenoneanotherforsometime(likeaweekorlonger). Mostimportantly,thisisnotaquestiontoasksomeoneyouhavejustmet,norisitaquestiontoasksomeoneyoujustsawyesterday.Thequestionisactuallyfocusingonthechunkoftimethathaspassedsinceyousawthatperson.   “Howhaveyoubeen?”isaboutthechunkoftimethathaspassedsinceyousawthatperson.   Forexample:  “Howhaveyoubeensincewegraduatedfromhighschool?”  “Howhaveyoubeensinceyougothospitalizedlastmonth?”  “Howhasshebeensinceherparentspassedaway?”  “Howhashebeensincetheybrokeup?”    Shortanswerstoanswerthequestion  Onewaytoanswerthisquestionistogiveshortorone-wordanswers.Thisisusuallythecasewhenyouareincasualconversations.NativeEnglishspeakerstendtoanswerthiswaywhentheyareconversingwithothers.Herearesomeexamplesoftheshortanswers:  “Good!”  “Great!”  “Notbad!”  “Neverbeenbetter!”  “Couldbebetter.”  “Alittlecrazyactually!”  Hectic!”  “Busy,busy.” “Asusual.” Longeranswerstoanswerthequestion  Butofcourse,there’salongerwaytoanswerthisquestion.Imentionedearlierthatit’ssimilartoansweringthequestion“howareyou?”.Thedifferenceiswhenyouanswer“howareyou?”,youanswerinpresenttense.Suchas“I’mokay.”With“howhaveyoubeen?”,ontheotherhand,youwillbeansweringusingthepresentperfectprogressivetense.Andthisisdonebyusing“Ihavebeen”plusthe continuous verb form.Presentperfectprogressivetensedescribesanactionthatbegansometimeinthepast,continuesinthepresent,andmaypossiblycontinueintothefuture.Herearesomeexamples:  Howhaveyoubeen?  “Ihavebeenbusyworking.”  “I’vebeentravelingquiteabitsincewesaweachotherlastChristmas.”  “Oh,I’vebeenstudyingalittletoohard.Ineedabreak.”  Howhashe/shebeen? “Gabby’sbeenpracticingcookingquiteabit.”  “Well,he’sbeenspendingalotoftimeatthegym!”  “Drewhasbeenhelpingoutkidsintheneighborhood.”  HowtoSoundMoreFluentandNative-likewhenyouAnswertheQuestion“Howhaveyoubeen? Herearesomeadditionaltipstomakeyousoundmorefluentandmorenative-likewhenansweringthisquestion:    1.Tosoundmorenative,use“I’vebeen” instead of “I have been”.Use“she’sbeen”or“he’sbeen”or“they’vebeen”too.  2.Ask the other person how they have beendoingtoo!Thisquestionisareallygreatconversationstarterandyoucancatchupwithsomeoneyouhaven’tseenortalkedtoforawhile,justbyaskingthisquestion.     Forexample:“I’vebeenbusyworkingalot,toomuchmaybe.Howaboutyou?Howhaveyoubeen?” Forexample:“I’vebeenrealbusystartingupmyownbusiness,butithasbeenfuntoo.Whathaveyoubeenupto?“ Youcanalsocheckoutthevideoversionofthistutoruial.Watchhowtoanswerthequestion“Howhaveyoubeen?”influentEnglish. AfterwatchingthisEnglishtutorial,ifyouwanttolearnmoreadvancedgrammar,IrecommendPastConditionalGrammar–HowtoUseShouldHaveBeen,CouldHavebeen,andWouldHaveBeeninEnglish. AreyoulookingforawaytoimproveyourEnglish?Wouldyouliketoknowwhenyou’remakingamistake?ClickheretogetinformationonourcompleteEnglishcourse,FluentCommunication,andlearnwhenwewillopenitagainfornewstudents.  RelatedPosts JointheCompleteEnglishCourse Search Search PopularPosts Howtousethepassive … HowtoSoundConfidentSpeaking … 3WaystoEnda … Top10PhrasalVerbsto … HowtoFindEnglish-SpeakingPractice … “Two”“To”and“Too”– … AdvancedBusinessEnglish–phrases … EssentialTravelVocabulary–Improve … #TAGSAdvancedEnglish BusinessEnglish Fluency Grammar HighBeginnerEnglish IntermediateEnglish listening pronunciation vocabulary ✕ LetmesendyoumybesttipstolearnfluentEnglish10xfaster



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