how
part of speech
adverb; conjunction (I know how to swim)
meaning for a pupil
1) How asks in what way: How do you make a kite? tree →
2) With «many» or «much», how asks about an amount: how many apples, how much water. tree →
3) With an adjective, how asks about size, age and so on: how old, how tall, how far, how long. tree →
4) How asks about feelings or health: How are you? tree →
5) How can show surprise: How kind of you! tree →
6) (casual) «How come?» means why; «how's it going?», «how ya going?» (Australia), «howya» (Ireland) and «how are ya» are greetings; «and how!» means very much so. tree →
7) (rough) «How thick are you?» or «how many times do I have to tell you?» are angry put-downs, not real questions. tree →
8) (formal) The exam voice replaces «how many» and «how much» with «determine the number of», «ascertain the quantity of», «state the magnitude of», «in what manner». tree →
9) How can also mean the way in which something is done or happens. tree →
sense in the lessons
in «how many» and «how much» the question for a number; «how many more … than» asks for a difference; «how long» asks for time or length; in science «how does it work?»; in everyday life «How are you?», «how to», «how about …?» (a suggestion); in casual talk «how come», «how ya going», «how many he got left then»; in rough talk angry questions that need no answer; in the exam voice «Determine the number of …», «State the quantity …», «In what manner …»
examples
- Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted; How long? (Torah NUM.24.22, JPS 1917) tree →
- How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? (Torah NUM.23.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- And how shall I execrate, whom the LORD hath not execrated? (Torah NUM.23.8, JPS 1917) tree →
- How forcible are words of uprightness! (Writings JOB.6.25, JPS 1917) tree →
- O how love I Thy law! (Writings PSA.119.97, JPS 1917) tree →
- How is the gold become dim! (Writings LAM.4.1, JPS 1917) tree →
- How many apples are on the table? tree →
- How many more books does Tom have than Ben? tree →
- How much money does Sara have left? tree →
- How old are you? tree →
- How far is it to the park? tree →
- Can you show me how to tie my shoes? tree →
- How are you today? tree →
- How about a game of tag? tree →
- bus at 8:40 its 8:25 now, how long tree →
- How come you've got more than me? tree →
- How many times do I have to tell you, it's 12! tree →
- Ascertain the quantity of monetary funds remaining in Sara's possession. tree →
- That is how I lost it. tree →
note
«how many» asks for a number, not the operation; «determine the number of» and «ascertain the quantity of» in an exam ask the same. Trap: «how many more … than» asks for a difference, not a sum. Use «how many» with things you can count (apples) and «how much» with things you cannot count (water, money). «How come?» means «why?». «how many times do I have to tell you» is anger, not a counting question. An hour has 60 minutes: «how long from 8:25 to 8:40» is 15 minutes.
In the corpora
- And he said unto him: 'Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle have fared with me.
- How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?'
- And Judah said: 'What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves?
- And Pharaoh said unto Jacob: 'How many are the days of the years of thy life?'
- And Moses said before the LORD: 'Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?'
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «how» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.