Have you ever found yourself confused while trying to respond to a greeting? You are not the only one but you have come to the right place to find the perfect answer and end the confusion.
Responding to greetings can be very easy in virtually every case. However, some greetings require special responses. Don’t get me wrong; Que Pasa is not one of those questions. It is much easier than you may think.
Before thinking of a perfect response, do you even know what it means? A greeting may be a compliment for a certain season or time of the day.
That should affect how you respond to the greeting. Que Pasa translates to [What’s Up?] in English.
How would you respond if I greeted you by saying [What’s up?]?
11 Best Responses to Que Pasa
- Nothing’s up, man.
- I’m doing great. Thank you.
- No news yet.
- Ciao
- I was expecting to hear from you.
- I’m fine. How about you?
- Good day.
- What do you think?
- You look great.
- It’s good to see you, man.
- How do I look?
Nothing’s up, man
There are actual greeting expressions and there are expressions that happen to be used by most people in greeting or starting conversations.
Que Pasa wouldn’t be considered a greeting expression since it’s a question. It is a question that asks about something and requires an answer.
However, it is used to start conversations and greet people. For this reason, you don’t necessarily have to answer the question.
Instead of answering the question of what is up with you, you can simply respond as you have just been greeted with Hello or Good day.
Nothing’s up actually answers the question but not in a way that is taken seriously. It is a cliché expression that is often given as a response to questions about one’s welfare, especially when a person is unwilling to talk about whatever is going on with him or her.
I’m doing great. Thank you
Here is another cliché expression that answers the question. However, unlike the response suggested earlier, this one may be your honest answer.
If you are willing to open up about how you feel, you can simply say you are doing great. However, you may want to say the opposite if you don’t feel this way.
Also, if you are not willing to open up about how you feel, this response is very okay too. By simply saying you are doing great, you can avoid telling the person anything about your welfare, though this does not stop him or her from asking further questions.
Adding Thank you is okay but it may sound dismissive so you can consider omitting that. Instead of saying thank you after giving a short cliché response like this, you can consider asking about the person’s welfare also. It should show that you care.
You can also choose to say Thank you and also ask about the person’s welfare. No one will judge you for too many words.
No news yet
This is not cliché. You can’t always use this in every case. As mentioned earlier, Que Pasa is not only a greeting expression. It is a question that inquires about a person’s welfare so a response may be required.
When a person asks you What’s up, you can respond like it is a regular greeting. However, if the person is referring to a subject matter which you already know about, you are expected to let the person know if there is new information on whatever he or she is referring to.
The question may mention what he or she is talking about so you shouldn’t be a misunderstanding when a person says Que Pasa.
However, the person may also just expect you to know what he or she is talking about.
Ciao
If Que Pasa is a greeting word, you can simply respond with a greeting word. Ciao is a greeting word.
The sweet thing about using this response is you can say it impulsively. You don’t have to think about the time of the day before saying this.
Instead of saying Good morning or afternoon or evening, Ciao works for all times. Another advantage of greeting with this is it can start conversations and also end conversations.
When a person walks up to you, you can say Ciao. When a person is walking away, you can also say Ciao and get away with it.
If a person greets you with Que Pasa and you are sure you are not being asked about anything specific, you can simply respond with Ciao and keep talking.
I was expecting to hear from you
This does not sound like something you say when greeting a person. That is true and that is because it is not a greeting expression.
If you have been greeted with Que Pasa, this may not be the correct option for you. However, if Que Pasa comes as a direct question on a subject matter, you can consider this response.
When responding to a question or statement, you must be sure of the message you are trying to pass and be aware of what you are saying to pass the message.
If you give this response, you are telling the person that you do not have new information on what the person is talking about and you expect the person to have new information to share with you.
I’m fine. How about you?
This is definitely a greeting expression. It directly answers the question but it is one of those cliché answers that you hear when welfare questions are asked.
Questions like How far and What’s up are used too often and may not even be used to mean what they literally mean.
Que Pasa (which is what’s up) can be said to you when the person asking does not even care what is up with you. In some cases, the person may not wait for you to respond before proceeding to say what he or she really cares about.
When you are greeted with Que Pasa, you can say that you are fine. Then, you should ask how the person is faring also.
While this expression may be cliché, you may mean what you are saying. If you feel fine, you can say this but it wouldn’t be proving that you actually feel fine.
You may want to consider other words that place more emphasis on the positivity of how you feel.
However, if you want to avoid answering the question, this response should do the job perfectly.
You give a short response that does not reflect your actual feelings or say anything about you, then you throw the question back so the person does not ask further questions about you.
Good day
We could have Good morning and Good afternoon on the list but why have them when we have Good day which works in place of both greeting expressions?
This expression is much similar to Ciao. You can use this response anytime you deem it fit. It’s usually a different story when it’s night but you know what to say when it is nighttime.
You should consider it rare to be asked What’s up at night, considering how dark it would be if you tried to actually look up.
If you are greeted with Que Pasa, you can simply say Good day unless the person wants an update on a topic that you are meant to be familiar with.
Another good thing about greeting a person with Good day is you can also say this when parting with someone.
What do you think?
This question is cool because it works for both cases. Que Pasa could be a greeting or an actual question. If it is an actual question, you can ask this question to make the person guess.
If you have good news, you can ask this question. If you have bad news, this question also works. If Que Pasa comes as a greeting, you can choose to answer the question literally. You can choose to ask this question, though you may not get a response.
You look great
This sounds like you are saying a compliment to the person. That is the purpose of saying this. When you are greeted, you can choose to respond with a greeting word. You can also choose to say a compliment to the person.
By saying the person looks great, you will get him or her flattered. However, this would sound weird and probably embarrassing if the person is asking about a topic that you should know of.
It’s good to see you, man
At times, the words contained in a greeting expression do not matter. Many people greet their friends with expressions in a foreign language even when they don’t know what those expressions mean.
When a person greets you with Que Pasa, you can respond like you are responding to Hello. If it is someone you haven’t seen in a while, this response would be perfect.
It would serve both as a compliment and as a sincere show of how you feel.
How do I look?
Even though the person does not actually care about what may be up with you, you can choose to respond literally. You can ask how you look, wearing a smile and showing off your body or clothes.
It would be found funny because the person does not actually care. However, this would be even more ridiculous and embarrassing if the person is talking about a topic that is important.