There are many ways of saying 'How are you?', but please note that 'How do you do' is NOT one of them. Here's a conversation using 'How do you do?' A: Peter, this is my colleague, John. John, this is my neighbour Peter. B: How do you do? C: How do you do? As you can see, 'How do you do?' is actually used in the same way as 'Nice to meet you' : it is a polite formula used when you meet someone or are introduced to someone for the first time. And although it looks like a question, it isn't in fact a question, because the response is identical. If someone says 'How do you do?' to you, you reply 'How do you do?'.

Neutral Versions (can be used in formal or informal situations): "How are you?" "How have you been?" "How was your day?" - Asked at the end of the day "How has your day been?" - Asked before the day is finished "How are you going?" - Mainly used in Australia and New Zealand, but it's apparently used in parts of Ireland as well Formal Versions: "How do you do?" "How are you doing?" - Less formal than "How do you do?", but still formal Informal: "How's it going?" "What's up?" - American. It can abbreviated to "Wassup?" or even just " 'Sup?", which are even more informal. Outside America, this means "What's wrong?". "What's happening?" All the versions I labelled as 'neutral' can be made more informal by using abbreviations. ex. "How've you been?" "How're you going?" "How's your day been?" etc.

"How do you do?" is a polite and formal way to ask this. "How are you doing?" is along the same formality of "How are you?" "What's up?" or "How's it going?" is a friendlier and informal way to say this.

How do you do?

How has it been?