How are you?
Use this with someone you address as du. You will also hear Wie geht’s?
FREE BEGINNER LESSON 2 · GERMAN
German: How are you?
Ask how someone is, understand a reply and return the question.
Informal · one person. Learn the meaning, listen to the pronunciation, then practise in the interactive lesson.
Practise this lessonOpening vocabulary referenceUseful German phrases and their meanings
I am well, thank you.
Mir means to me in this expression. Gut means well or good.
And you?
Dir refers to the person you address informally. With a stranger, use Und Ihnen?
I am well too.
Auch means also or too. It comes before gut in this reply.
How the sentence works
Wie geht es dir? asks how one person is, informally. Dir is the form of du after this expression. The very common short form is Wie geht’s? Mir geht es gut means I am well: literally, it is going well for me. Und dir? returns the question.
A short conversation in German
Hello! How are you?
I am well, thank you. And you?
I am well too.
Words to recognise
how
well / good
and
also / too
Listen to the whole phrase before focusing on each word. You can replay as often as you like, and the interactive lesson uses pictures and a short exchange to put the meaning in context.
Open the interactive lessonThe opening six teaching lessons are free, including the mini-tests after lessons three and six. A test accepts any answer and shows the score and corrections at the end. No typing or speaking aloud is required.
Keep learning German
Free five-minute audio lesson and MP3 · Language learning games
The pronunciation uses prepared synthetic voices. Credits and licences explain the free voice models. Independent native-speaker certification is not claimed.