"How" asks about MANNER, DEGREE, or PROCESS; "what" asks about THING, IDENTITY, or CONTENT. Confusing them generates very common errors in English.
HOW: asks about MODE, MANNER, PROCESS, or DEGREE. (1) MANNER: "How did you solve it?" (2) DEGREE + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB: "How fast is it?" "How long does it take?" "How often do you exercise?" (3) STATE/WELLBEING: "How are you?" (4) EXCLAMATION: "How beautiful!" (5) PROCESS: "How does it work?" Fixed HOW patterns: how much, how many, how long, how far, how often, how old, how soon.
How did you manage to deliver the project two weeks ahead of schedule? The team must have worked incredibly efficiently.
How long have you been working in the tech industry? Your experience in AI seems quite extensive.
How often does the team have retrospective meetings? Weekly sprints suggest they should happen every Friday.
WHAT: asks about THING, IDENTITY, CONTENT, or TYPE. (1) THING or CONTENT: "What did you say?" "What happened?" (2) + NOUN (determiner): "What time is it?" "What kind of music do you like?" (3) IDENTITY: "What is this?" "What is your job?" (4) EXCLAMATION: "What a surprise!" Fixed WHAT patterns: what time, what kind, what type, what about, what if, so what.
What exactly happened during the server outage last Tuesday? The incident report is still missing key details.
What kind of experience are they looking for in the new hire? The job description is fairly broad.
What time does the investor presentation start? I want to make sure the room is set up at least thirty minutes beforehand.
Common mistake
Most frequent errors: (1) "How is your name?" = INCORRECT. A name is an IDENTITY (thing, content) = WHAT: "WHAT is your name?" (2) "What do you feel?" instead of "How do you feel?" = INCORRECT. Physical or emotional STATE uses HOW: "HOW do you feel?" "How are you?" (3) "What does it look like?" (correct) vs "How does it look?" (also correct but different): WHAT LOOK LIKE = requests a description of appearance (what does it look like?). HOW LOOK = requests an evaluation (does it look good or bad?). (4) "What time" (correct) vs "How time" = INCORRECT.
Trick to remember it
The ANSWER TRICK: think about the type of answer you expect. If the answer would be a NOUN or a THING ("my name is Bryan", "I had pasta", "a meeting happened") = WHAT. If the answer would be a MANNER, DEGREE, or PROCESS ("slowly", "very fast", "by pressing this button") = HOW. "_____ is your name?" -> answer = "Bryan" (noun/thing) = WHAT. "_____ do you feel?" -> answer = "tired / well / great" (state adjective) = HOW. "_____ do you do it?" -> answer = "by using this method" (process/manner) = HOW.
Quick rule
How = asks about MANNER, PROCESS, DEGREE, STATE ("how are you?", "how fast?", "how often?"). What = asks about THING, IDENTITY, CONTENT ("what happened?", "what is your name?", "what time?").
Did you know?
The question "How are you?" is probably the most widely used phrase in English worldwide, but it is also one that creates major cultural confusion. In everyday North American English, "How are you?" is practically equivalent to a greeting — the expected answer is "Fine, thanks" or "Good, and you?" regardless of how you actually feel. In British English, however, "How are you?" can be more genuine and expect a fuller response. Studies of linguistic politeness show that asking "How are you?" without expecting a real answer (just the formula) is a universal social ritual in many English-speaking cultures, which can confuse speakers of languages where the equivalent question is always genuine.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
"_____ does the onboarding process typically take for new hires in your department?"
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
"_____ is the new project management system called? I keep forgetting the name."
Exercise 3 · Form the word
How = asks about MANNER, PROCESS, DEGREE, STATE ("how are you?", "how fast?", "how often?"). What = asks about THING, IDENTITY, CONTENT ("what happened?", "what is your name?", "what time?").
Most frequent errors: (1) "How is your name?" = INCORRECT. A name is an IDENTITY (thing, content) = WHAT: "WHAT is your name?" (2) "What do you feel?" instead of "How do you feel?" = INCORRECT. Physical or emotional STATE uses HOW: "HOW do you feel?" "How are you?" (3) "What does it look like?" (correct) vs "How does it look?" (also correct but different): WHAT LOOK LIKE = requests a description of appearance (what does it look like?). HOW LOOK = requests an evaluation (does it look good or bad?). (4) "What time" (correct) vs "How time" = INCORRECT.
The ANSWER TRICK: think about the type of answer you expect. If the answer would be a NOUN or a THING ("my name is Bryan", "I had pasta", "a meeting happened") = WHAT. If the answer would be a MANNER, DEGREE, or PROCESS ("slowly", "very fast", "by pressing this button") = HOW. "_____ is your name?" -> answer = "Bryan" (noun/thing) = WHAT. "_____ do you feel?" -> answer = "tired / well / great" (state adjective) = HOW. "_____ do you do it?" -> answer = "by using this method" (process/manner) = HOW.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy