Nothing much, what's going on?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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:blossom: In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. :blossom:

Hi!

A: What’s up? ←
B: Nothing much, what’s going on? ← ← ←
A: I’m having a party this Friday.
B: Oh, really? That’s nice.
A: I wanted to see if you wanted to come.
B: This Friday? Sorry, I already have plans.
A: Doing what?
B: I’m going to dinner with my family.

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What does “what’s going on?” mean in this dialogue?

(This question is in response to the question of “What’s up?”.)

Thank you

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In this dialogue, “what’s going on?” is another way of asking “what’s up?” or “what’s happening?” It is a casual way for Speaker B to continue the conversation and ask if there is any news or something happening with Speaker A.

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Thank you so much, Torsten :rose:
Very nice.

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I have one more question:

A: I wanted to see if you wanted to come. ←

Is this a question sentence?
If yes, do we need a question mark “?” at the end?

Thanks

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5

Grammatically, “I wanted to see if you wanted to come.” is a statement, not a direct question.

Even though it expresses an inquiry, it is structured as an indirect question (embedded within a statement), so a question mark is not needed. A direct question would be:

:white_check_mark: “Do you want to come?” (Needs a question mark)

But since the sentence is phrased as a statement, it correctly ends with a period instead of a question mark.

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Thank you so much, Torsten :rose:
Very nice.

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