WBU stands for what about you? First you answer the question yourself, then you hand it back: good, wbu? Without your answer in front of it, wbu hangs in the air: it's unclear what you're asking about. People write it to friends; in an email to a colleague or teacher, write How about you? in full, and out loud, including in IELTS Speaking, people say the full phrase too.
Could you drop wbu into a text?
Write a short message — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
your answer + , wbu?; hru? — good, wbu?; wbu? — same / not much
- just got home from the gym and i'm so tired. wbu?
- pretty good, finally finished my project last night, wbu?
- i'm staying in tonight with a pizza, wbu? any plans?
What changed
First versionDear Mr Hall, thanks for asking, I'm doing well, wbu?
RevisionDear Mr Hall, thanks for asking, I'm doing well, how about you?
An email to a teacher is a formal text, and wbu is a chat abbreviation. The answer to the question stays the same; only the ending changes: you hand the question back with the full phrase how about you?
Two similar abbreviations live nearby. HBU, how about you?, means the same thing: good, hbu? And wyd, what (are) you doing?, asks what someone is doing right now, and that one you can send first: wyd? — just got home.
Your turn
Friend: what are you having for dinner tonight? Me: pasta again lol, ___? Friend: pizza, too lazy to cook
Show the answer
wbu — You said what you're having for dinner and handed the same question back, so your friend answers about their dinner: pizza. Wyd asks what someone is doing, and pizza would be a strange answer to that.
A friend asked how your weekend went. Reply with a message: name one thing you did and hand the question back with wbu.
went hiking with my sister on saturday, my legs still hurt lol. wbu?
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.