# Hoe gaat het? / Hoe is het?



## Hitchhiker

I've noticed in all of the Dutch phrase books I've seen "Hoe gaat het?" is mentioned but not "Hoe is het?" I think I've heard "Hoe is het?" more often than "Hoe gaat het?" In Belgium this is often pronounced as /oe ist/ or at least it sounds that way to me. I'm thinking maybe the difference might be regional or "Hoe gaat het?" might be more formal and better for phrase books. Another version I've heard in Belgium is from the French phrase "Ca va?" turned in to a Flemish word "Savakes?" Is "Hoe gaat het?" considered more formal than "Hoe is het?" or it just a regional difference? Is it only a personal difference?


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## Stijn

I (I'm Flemish) I would use "Hoe is 't?" when greeting a friend.
But in more formal situations I think I'd use "Hoe gaat het?". Somehow "Hoe is het?" doesn't sound 100% standard to me.

"Ca va"/"Savakes" is also common, and quite informal.
I think I'd say "Hoe is 't?" when I actually want some reply on how the other person's doing, and "Ca va" only as a quick greeting or generic conversation opener without expecting any real answer.


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## Hitchhiker

Thanks, I was in Belgium in Antwerp and Ghent. A girl from Utrecht, Netherlands told me at that time that "Hoe is het?" was a phrase she didn't consider proper Dutch and to her she it didn't mean anything. So I thought maybe it was only an expression in Belgium and not known in the Netherlands. I have not had the the internet until very recently. I now see websites from the Netherlands that mention "Hoe is het?" so now I know at least some places in the Netherlands have this expression. It's not in any Dutch phrase books and I've only seen it in language course books from the University of Leuven.


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## Moskva

The difference is probably just regional. 
What I use is:  Hoe is het ?  Hoe is't ermee  and Alles goed?

You dont hear Ça va in the Netherlands though.


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## moenbase

To me "Hoe gaat het" is used to ask how someone is feeling.
"Hoe voel jij je? / Hoe gaat het (met jou)?"

It is more personal then "Hoe is het?".
With "Hoe is het?" there's no real interest in how someone is really doing. It's just to be polite. Literly it just means "How do you do?". Which I think is more of a common phrase to say "hi".


For example. If a friend of mine breaks up with his girlfriend. I'm asking him "Hoe gaat het?". I wouldn't say "Hoe is het?".
It asks for more explanation about how he's doing, how he is feeling.

But if I'm walking down the street and I see an old classmate/friend of mine. I'll ask him "Hoe is het?".
Then he'll reply "Goed, en met jou". "Good, how about you?"
At which I'd reply with "Goed" and we'll go our own way again. Really informal as you can see. And not personal at all.


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## Hitchhiker

Thanks. From the reaction of the girl from Utrecht and because only "Hoe gaat het?" is in the phrase books and not "Hoe is het?" I thought maybe "Hoe is het?" was maybe only a Belgian expression or had a different meaning in the Netherlands. When I saw it mentioned on some Netherlands websites I realized at least it is known in some parts of the Netherlands. The girl from Utrcht told me for her "Hoe is het?" has no meaning at all. At the time I was in Antwerp and with dropping the H's and running the words together it sounds to me like "Wist?" (English W) It took me a bit to figure out what the words were.


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## rivkaopreis

Well... I don't know what kind of girl from Utrecht you met but I'am another girl for Utrecht and to me "hoe is het?" sounds perfectly fine! I would agree with moenbase though that "hoe is het?" is more a standard greeting, sometimes quite inpersonal, and "hoe gaat het?" is more personal, often asked when someone is going through a rough patch and you want to know how they are dealing with the situation...


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## Hitchhiker

rivkaopreis said:


> well... i don't know what kind of girl from Utrecht you met but i'am another girl for Utrecht and to me "hoe is het?" sounds perfectly fine! I would agree with moenbase though that "hoe is het?" is more a standard greeting, sometimes quite inpersonal, and "hoe gaat het?" is more personal, often asked when someone is going through a rough patch and you want to know how they are dealing with the situation...



Thanks, The Utrecht girl's Dutch may have been a bit formal. The wife of the Belgian minister of Flemish culture went to the supermarket here in Washington and was surprised the cashier said "How are you?" to her. She didn't get that it's just a casual greeting here and not a real question. She said in Europe one would never say that to a stranger.


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## Moskva

Hitchhiker said:


> Thanks, The Utrecht girl's Dutch may have been a bit formal. The wife of the Belgian minister of Flemish culture went to the supermarket here in Washington and was surprised the cashier said "How are you?" to her. She didn't get that it's just a casual greeting here and not a real question. She said in Europe one would never say that to a stranger.


 
Thats something I noticed while I was visiting NYC. All that "how's it going" 

Cashiers here won't say "How are you". They'll be more likely to say "goodmorning or good afternoon"


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