[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/how.html) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / how [← H](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/H/) # how «how» in Mova's school dictionary: **How asks in what way: How do you make a kite?** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it. ### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m1) 2) With «many» or «much», how asks about an amount: how many apples, how much water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m2) 3) With an adjective, how asks about size, age and so on: how old, how tall, how far, how long. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m3) 4) How asks about feelings or health: How are you? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m4) 5) How can show surprise: How kind of you! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m5) 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m6) 7) (rough) «How thick are you?» or «how many times do I have to tell you?» are angry put-downs, not real questions. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m7) 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m8) 9) How can also mean the way in which something is done or happens. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#m9) ### 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 - How many apples are on the table? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x1) - How many more books does Tom have than Ben? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x2) - How much money does Sara have left? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x3) - How old are you? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x4) - How far is it to the park? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x5) - Can you show me how to tie my shoes? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x6) - How are you today? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x7) - How about a game of tag? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x8) - bus at 8:40 its 8:25 now, how long [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x9) - How come you've got more than me? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x10) - How many times do I have to tell you, it's 12! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x11) - Ascertain the quantity of monetary funds remaining in Sara's possession. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x12) - That is how I lost it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/#x13) ### 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 - [Banks offer children's accounts to keep savings safe and teach how banks work.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/7-cards-banks-and-apps/19/) - [A credit score is a rating of how reliably someone pays; missing payments lowers it and makes borrowing harder and dearer.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/8-borrowing-and-debt/18/) - [Disagreeing is normal; talking it through is how couples decide things together.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/14-grown-ups-who-argue-and-make-up/11/) - [A hangover is how the body feels the day after drinking too much alcohol: headache, tiredness, thirst and feeling sick.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/27-coffee-tea-wine-and-the-pub/14/) - [Voting is secret, so nobody has to tell anyone how they voted, not even their own family.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/31-votes-parties-and-the-people-in-charge/10/) ### Trees and pragmatics [Every meaning and example of «how» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/how/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.