Introducing yourself and others

Maybe you just stand there and don't really know how to begin when you want to introduce yourself or someone else to an English native speaker. Your intention, however, was to leave a lasting first impression at the beginning of a conversation. The following phrases will help you to introduce yourself both casually and confidently. If someone is introduced to you, you may reply "Nice to meet you" and introduce yourself afterwards.

If you want to introduce an acquaintance, a friend, a relative or a colleague to someone, you may do so by using the following phrases.

At formal encounters, for example among business associates, you usually address someone with Mr. or Mrs./Ms., but when you introduce yourself, you normally leave out the titles. So you don't say "Hello, I am Mr. Smith." but "Hello, I am Marc Smith.". The doctor's degree can be used if you want to keep the relationship very official. You would then introduce yourself as "Dr. Tom Maier" for example. If you place no great value on titles, you can break the ice by saying "Oh, please call me Tom".

You can find more helpful tips for the beginning of a conversation in the article Greeting.