German › Phrases › How are you
The quick answer: how are you in German is Wie geht’s? (vee GAYTS) with friends and family, or Wie geht es Ihnen? (vee gayt ess EE-nen) when you’re being polite. One warning before you use it: in Germany this is a real question, and you will get a real answer. 👇
Wie geht’s?
vee GAYTS · how are you? — the everyday short form
🐌 Slow version
“Wie geht’s?” is short for Wie geht es dir? — literally “how goes it to you?” Germans shorten it exactly the way Americans shorten “how are you doing” to “howya doin’.” It’s friendly, it’s everywhere, and it’s the second thing you should learn after hello.
11 ways to ask how are you in German
| German | Say it like | What it means | Use it when… | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wie geht’s? | vee GAYTS | How’s it going? | the everyday default — friends, family, neighbors | |
| Wie geht es dir? | vee gayt ess deer | How are you? (familiar) | the full, warmer version to one person you know well | |
| Wie geht es Ihnen? | vee gayt ess EE-nen | How are you? (polite) | strangers, elders, the doctor, anyone you’d call Herr or Frau | |
| Wie geht es euch? | vee gayt ess oykh | How are you all? | to a group you know — a family, a table of friends | |
| Alles klar? | AH-less klar | All good? | very common and casual — “everything okay?” | |
| Alles gut? | AH-less goot | Everything good? | light and modern, big with younger Germans | |
| Wie läuft’s? | vee LOYFTS | How’s it running? | relaxed — about work, a project, life in general | |
| Na? | nah | Well? / Hey, how are you? | the north’s one-syllable check-in — hello and how-are-you at once | |
| Geht’s dir gut? | GAYTS deer goot | Are you doing okay? | genuine concern — someone looks tired or unwell | |
| Was machst du so? | vahs mahkhst doo zo | What are you up to these days? | catching up with someone you haven’t seen in a while | |
| Wie geht’s der Familie? | vee GAYTS dair fah-MEE-lee-uh | How’s the family? | the warm one — relatives, old friends, phone calls home |
💡 Pronunciation tip: geht rhymes with English “gate,” and the w in Wie is a v sound — so “Wie geht’s” lands as vee GAYTS. In Ihnen, the ih is a long ee: EE-nen. Say it slowly the first ten times; speed comes on its own.
Sie or du? The one thing Americans get wrong
English has one word for “you.” German has two, and choosing between them is the single most common stumble for American learners. The good news: the rule is short.
| German | Say it like | What it means | Use it when… | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wie geht es Ihnen? | vee gayt ess EE-nen | How are you? — polite (Sie) | anyone you would call Mr. or Mrs. in English | |
| Wie geht es dir? | vee gayt ess deer | How are you? — familiar (du) | anyone you would call by their first name |
That’s it. Ihnen goes with Sie. Dir goes with du. Shopkeeper, waiter, doctor, your cousin’s husband you’ve just met — Ihnen. Your sister, your grandchildren, your old school friend, anyone who has invited you to — dir.
Three things nobody tells you:
- Sie is not cold. Americans hear formality as distance. Germans hear it as respect. Being addressed with Sie in a shop is exactly as warm as being called “ma’am” or “sir.”
- Wait to be offered du. The switch is a small ceremony, and it’s the older or more senior person who offers it: “Wir können uns duzen” (veer KUR-nen oons DOO-tsen — “we can use du with each other”). Say “Gerne!” (GAIR-nuh — “gladly!”) and you’re in.
- Family is always du — even great-aunts you’ve never met, even at ninety. German relatives you find through genealogy will du you from the first sentence, and that itself is the welcome.
How to answer “Wie geht’s?” — 11 real replies
Start with the first one. It covers nine mornings out of ten.
| German | Say it like | What it means | Use it when… | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gut, danke! | goot, DAHN-kuh | Good, thanks! | the safe, friendly, always-correct answer | |
| Mir geht’s gut. | meer GAYTS goot | I’m doing well. | the full sentence — mirrors the question back neatly | |
| Sehr gut! | zair goot | Very good! | a genuinely good day | |
| Alles bestens! | AH-less BEST-ens | Everything’s great! | cheerful and very German — a favorite at work | |
| Ganz gut. | gahnts goot | Pretty good. | fine, nothing dramatic | |
| Es geht. | ess gayt | So-so. / It’s going. | the honest German shrug — perfectly acceptable | |
| Kann nicht klagen. | kahn nisht KLAH-gen | Can’t complain. | modest and warm — very popular with older Germans | |
| Muss ja. | mooss yah | Well, it has to be. | dry humor at its most German — beloved in the north | |
| Mir ging’s schon besser. | meer gings shone BESS-er | I’ve been better. | honest, without making it a whole story | |
| Nicht so gut. | nisht zo goot | Not so good. | when it’s true — and Germans will ask what’s wrong | |
| Und dir? / Und Ihnen? | oont deer / oont EE-nen | And you? (familiar / polite) | always add this — leaving it out sounds abrupt |
💡 Don’t forget to bounce it back. “Gut, danke” on its own is a closed door. “Gut, danke. Und Ihnen?” is a conversation. That one extra word is the difference between a tourist and a guest.
Germans will actually answer you
This is the part no phrasebook prepares Americans for, and it matters more than any vocabulary on this page.
In the United States, “How are you?” is a greeting. It’s the verbal equivalent of a wave. Nobody expects a report. In Germany, Wie geht es Ihnen? is a question — and questions get answers. Ask a German how they are, and you may hear about the knee, the weather, the neighbor’s renovation, and the state of the trains.
This isn’t rudeness or over-sharing. It’s the opposite: it’s taking you seriously. So two small habits will serve you well:
- Only ask if you have a minute. Passing someone in a hallway? Just say Hallo or Guten Morgen. That’s complete on its own in German — no “how are you” required.
- Answer honestly when asked. Es geht is a perfectly respectable answer. So is Mir ging’s schon besser. Germans find relentless American cheerfulness a little puzzling; a truthful “so-so” reads as trustworthy.
🇩🇪 The phone-call version: if you’re calling relatives in Germany or Austria, the sequence almost never changes. “Hallo, hier ist …” (hello, this is …), then “Wie geht es euch?” — how are you all? Asking after the whole household, not just the person holding the phone, is the warmest thing you can do in the first ten seconds of a German call.
Hear it in a real conversation
Four lines. This is a complete, natural German exchange between two people meeting politely — nothing left out.
Frau WeberGuten Morgen! Wie geht es Ihnen?Good morning! How are you?
Frau KleinGut, danke. Und Ihnen?Thanks, good. And you?
Frau WeberAuch gut, danke.Also good, thank you.
Frau KleinSchönen Tag noch!Have a nice day!
Learn those four lines and you can hold your end of a German greeting anywhere from Hamburg to Vienna. Add danke and tschüss and you’re genuinely conversational at the front door.
Which one should you actually use?
If you learn one question and one answer, learn these two:
- Wie geht es Ihnen? — polite, correct with absolutely anyone, never wrong. If you’re visiting Germany, Austria or Switzerland, this is the one.
- Gut, danke. Und Ihnen? — the reply that keeps the conversation alive.
Then adjust:
- With family and old friends: Wie geht’s? or Wie geht es dir?
- With a group of relatives: Wie geht es euch?
- Casual, in a shop or with younger people: Alles klar?
- In northern Germany: a single Na? does the job of the whole sentence.
- In writing or email: Ich hoffe, es geht Ihnen gut (“I hope you are well”) — the standard warm opener.
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Practice: quick check
1. You’re buying stamps and the clerk says “Guten Tag, wie geht es Ihnen?”…
Gut, danke. Und Ihnen? — polite, complete, and you handed the conversation back. Exactly right.
2. Your German cousin video-calls and asks “Wie geht’s?” — but it’s been a rough week…
Es geht. — or Mir ging’s schon besser. Honest answers are welcome in German. She’ll ask what happened, and that’s the point.
3. A Hamburg neighbor passes you on the stairs and says “Na?”…
Na? — one syllable back is the complete and correct reply. You’ve just asked and answered “how are you” without using a single verb.
Frequently asked questions
How do you answer “Wie geht’s?”
The standard answer is Gut, danke (goot DAHN-kuh) — “good, thanks” — followed by Und dir? or Und Ihnen? to hand the question back. Other common replies: Sehr gut (very good), Ganz gut (pretty good), Es geht (so-so), Kann nicht klagen (can’t complain) and Nicht so gut (not so good).
How do you say “how are you” in German casually?
Use Wie geht’s? (vee GAYTS) with friends and family. Even more casual are Alles klar? (“all good?”), Alles gut? and Wie läuft’s? (“how’s it going?”). In northern Germany a single Na? covers the whole thing.
What’s the difference between “Wie geht es dir” and “Wie geht es Ihnen”?
Dir is the familiar “you” — for family, friends, children and anyone you call by first name. Ihnen is the polite “you” — for strangers, shopkeepers, officials, doctors and anyone you’d address as Herr or Frau. When in doubt, choose Ihnen. Extra courtesy is never a mistake in German.
Is “Wie geht’s” formal or informal?
Informal, but gently so. It’s short for Wie geht es dir?, so it belongs with people you know — friends, family, neighbors, colleagues you’re on first-name terms with. In a shop or an office where you don’t know someone, use the full Wie geht es Ihnen? instead.
Do Germans actually ask each other “how are you”?
Yes — but far less often than Americans, and they mean it. In Germany “Wie geht es Ihnen?” is a genuine question, not a greeting, so people give real answers. A simple Guten Morgen or Hallo is a complete greeting on its own; only add “how are you” if you have time to hear the reply.
How do you pronounce “Wie geht es Ihnen”?
Vee gayt ess EE-nen. The German w sounds like an English v, geht rhymes with “gate,” and Ihnen starts with a long ee. The short form Wie geht’s is simply vee GAYTS.