HOW DO YOU DO? (Posted by Nova Eng Campus)

Thank you for the overwhelming response to my humble blog. As requested by many of you, I'm publishing a short-note about how to use "How do you do?"

It's a common mistake among the non-native English speakers to use "How do you do?" in the sense of "How are you?." But this usage is  unknown to native English speakers.

Although "How do you do?"  ends with a question mark, it is not treated as a question. So it doesn't need an answer too. In fact "How do you do?" is a greeting phrase which is exchanged by two people when they introduce to one another for the first name. Do remember to use this phrase in a polite tone. If someone says "How do you do?" to you, you are supposed to reply him/her in the same way.

To make it more clear, "How do you do?" means exactly the same as "Hello" . It is utter foolishness to use "I am fine" when somebody greets you with a "How do you do?!!!"

A final word: These days the practice of saying "How do you do?" is becoming old-fashioned when one introduces himself/herself to someone else. Instead "Hello" is widely used.


Jacob
(Nova English Campus)

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