Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition

(Rick Simeone) #1
Ja, (das) mach ich (gern).
Yes, I’ll (gladly/certainly) do that.

Auf jeden Fall.
Certainly/I certainly will.

Ja!/Jawohl!/Ja, (aber) natürlich/selbstverständlich.
Of course (I will).

Gerne.
Gladly.

(Ganz) bestimmt./Ja, (ganz) sicher.
I (most) certainly will.

Na klar./Aber sicher.
Sure, of course.

60.5 Enquiring about well being


(a) To ask someone how they are, use:

Wie geht’s?/Wie geht es Ihnen?/Wie geht’s dir?
How are you?

This structure requires the dative of the person, when mentioned, and the subject of the
verb is always es. Responses could include:

Danke, gut/es geht.
Thanks, I’m well/I’m OK.

Es geht mir/uns sehr gut/bestens.
I am/we are very well/extremely well.

Wir sind alle ganz gesund/wohlauf.
We are all very well/in good health.

Note that wohlauf is now considered a little old-fashioned.

Na ja, es geht!
Oh, all right.

Danke, einigermaßen.
Not so bad, thanks.

Alternatively, if things are not so good:

Mir geht’s schlecht.
I’m not well/I’m ill.

Es geht (mir) nicht so gut/gar nicht gut.
I’m not too well/not at all well.

(b) To return the question, use:

Und (wie geht es) dir/euch/Ihnen?
And how are you/what about you?

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