Learn English – What’s an appropriate response to a British person asking “You alright?”

british-englishgreetings

I've heard this phrase from various British people: "You alright" (comes out as a slurred "y'rite") and I'm always a bit confused on how to respond. From context, it seems to have two meanings (correct me if I'm wrong):

  1. equivalent to an American saying "How are you" in passing
  2. are you being served / can I help you, e.g. from the barman at a pub

In case 1, is it expected of me to say "yes" as in, yes, I'm alright, which would be equivalent to saying I'm fine in response to the American "how are you"?

And then should I ask "are you alright" back, as I would if I were saying I'm fine, you? (in the US it would be a bit rude to say "I'm fine" without asking how about you…)

In the second usage, I haven't been helped yet, should I say "no"?

Best Answer

You are correct, there are two meanings which you mention. The first one has a couple of possible responses:

1 - yes, yeah or something else short and semi-positive
2 - a response of 'alright' itself can be appropriate for passing, which means "yes, thank you, and yourself?' That could just be a Northern thing though.

For the barman/waitress/service person, you can either keep things short as per the point above, or you can engage them in your request/order to facilitate teh service.

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