Formal greetings often begin with the universal "As-salām ˤalaykom" and the reply, "Wa ˤalaykom as-salām", an exchange common to Muslims everywhere. However, other greetings typical to Sudan include "Izzēyak" (to men) or " Izzēyik" (to women). A rather informal way to say "How are you", is "Inta shadīd? Inti shadīda?" "Are you well? (to a male and a female, respectively)", the response to which is usually "al-Hamdo lillāh" "Praise God" assuming you are indeed feeling well, "ma batal" "not bad" or "nosnos" "half-half)" if feeling only okay or "taˤban showayya" "a little tired" if not so well. Of course, there can be many other responses but these are used in everyday language.