Learn English: 10 Common “HOW” Questions

"You can't come to the movie anymore?"

How come?

It's too long.

"How so?

It's only 90 minutes.

That's like the shortest amount of time a movie can be now."

Come on, tell me the truth.

I knew it, you saw it already.

Okay, well, how was it?

Okay, so I should see it?

Yeah?

Okay.

I guess I'll go see it on my own.

Okay.

Yeah, don't worry about it.

I know, you were excited.

Okay.

Yep.

Talk to you later.

Bye.

Okay, I guess I'm seeing a movie by myself.

Hey, everyone.

I'm Alex.

Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on ten common - yes, ten common "how" questions.

So, these are questions with the word "how", and "how" usually means the manner in which

you do something.

Okay?

So, we're going to start at the very top, and if you heard my phone conversation, which

I think you did if you've been watching since the start of this video, the first question

I asked my friend was "How come?"

So, "How come?" is another way to ask "Why?"

Okay?

So, you can't come to the movie anymore.

How come?

Why?

Okay?

So, you can also extend this if you want to ask a longer question.

So, "How come you can't come to the movie?"

So, all you have to do is use "How come?" and then just use a sentence that starts with

a subject.

Right?

So, "How come?" and then "You can't come to the movie.

She can't attend the meeting."

Okay?

So, "How come" plus subject plus verb after that.

All right?

And it just means "Why?

How come?

How come?

How so?"

Okay?

So, like, this is just another way, a more emphatic way to say "How?"

Okay?

So, I told my friend - well, my friend told me first, "The movie's too long.

I don't want to see the movie because it's too long."

Like, too long.

How so?

How is it too long?

It's only 90 minutes.

That's the shortest amount of time a movie can be now when you go to the theatre, if

you're going to the theatre anymore.

All right?

So, "How so?"

It's just another way of saying "How?"

And usually you use it when you want to confront someone about something, but it's also possible

to use it in a gentler way as well.

Okay?

So, "How so?"

If I say, "This bottle can hold 250 litres" or whatever, it's like, "How so?

How is that possible?"

It's a small bottle.

How is that even possible?

Okay?

So, "How?"

"How did you do that?"

Right?

If you are, you know, you do something impressive, you show your friend something cool, and you

don't understand how they did it, like, "Whoa.

How did you do that?"

Or your friend is showing you something on their computer or on their phone, and they

quickly do something, and you want them to slow down, and you say, "Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Slow down.

Slow down.

How did you do that?"

Okay?

I don't know how you did that.

Next, "How is it?" or "How was it?"

So, in my conversation with my friend, I talked about the quality of the movie.

He saw the movie already, so I said, "How was it?"

Tell me about the quality of the movie.

You can also say in the present, "How is it?"

So, if you use "How is it?", maybe your friend is trying a new food for the first time, and

you really want to see their reaction.

What do you think?

Like, "How is it?"

Okay?

So, if they're trying avocado for the first time, I can't get my kids to try avocado.

It's really hard.

But every time I try to, you know, get them to try something new, I'm like, "Huh?

How is it?"

I want them to like it.

So, tell me about the quality of it, okay?

This can also refer to the fit of something.

So, if you go clothes shopping, and your friend tries something, and they're in the changing

room, and you knock, "How is it?

How is the new shirt?"

Okay?

"It's okay.

It's a little tight.

It's a little loose."

So, how is it?

Tell me about the quality of the food, the movie, the clothes that you're wearing, whatever

it is.

Okay, next, how much is it?

How much is this?

How much is that?

So, how much in this situation, you are asking about the price of something.

So, you're at a store, and you can say, "Excuse me, how much is this?"

If you're holding the product in your hand.

You can also point and say, "Hey."

Maybe not "Hey" if you want to be nice.

But you say, "Excuse me, how much is that?"

It's not, you know, polite to point in many places, but in a store, I've pointed at something

and say, "Hey, how much is that?

What is the cost of that?"

Okay?

Next, how many "hmm" are there, or how many "hmm" were there?

So, here you are asking about the quantity.

Let me get off the screen a little bit so you can see that.

And how many.

So, how much, you're talking about non-count things.

Here you're specifically talking about money.

Yes, you can count dollars, you can count pesos, but you can't say one money, two monies.

That's why you use how much.

And how many, this is for countable things.

So, how many guests were there at the party?

How many pencils are there, you know, inside this pencil case, for example, pencil cases

like that.

So, you can, you know, store pencils inside a pencil case.

So, you're asking about the quantity of something that you can count.

Now, if the object is obvious, it's in front of you, you don't have to say, like, "How

many pencils are there?"

You can just say, "How many are there?"

Okay?

So, you can skip the object if the object is obvious, and you and the person you are

speaking to know which object you are referring to.

Next, very useful question if you are, you know, talking to a friend who is telling you

about another friend or a colleague, and you want to know about the length of time they

have known one another, say, "Hey, how long have you known each other?"

Okay?

So, maybe you're talking to a work colleague who is talking about their new girlfriend,

new boyfriend, new spouse, new partner, and you want to ask them, you know, "How long

have you known this person?

How long have you known each other?"

"Oh, we have known each other for five years", or "We have known each other for two years",

or "Six months", who knows?

Now, if you are shopping and you're looking for a specific item, and you want to make

a recommendation or someone, your friend, wants to make a recommendation to you, they

might say, "Hey, how about this one?"

So, imagine you are shopping for a new phone, for example, and hmm, okay, your friend says,

"Hey, Alex, how about this one?"

"No."

"Oh, how about that one?"

Okay?

So, remember, this is something that is close to you, that is something that is further

away from you, so how about this one?

Let's try this one.

Okay?

So, it just means, what do you think about this one?

Do you like it?

Okay?

Next, I say "okay" too much in these videos.

You should count the amount of okays in this video and tell me in the comments.

That should be the Easter egg game for this video.

Next, I know someone will do it, and I love you for that.

So, or maybe they won't, and then I'll feel sad, so please do it, okay?

How do you like it?

So, if you give someone, this is similar to how is it, how was it.

You're asking about someone, you know, if they like something, so it's like saying,

do you like it?

How do you like it?

It's a little spicy, if they're eating, like, a soup that you made for them.

You probably want to be polite and say, it's a little spicy for me, but it's good, right?

So, you want to say, like, yeah, it's good, because you made it, and I love you, and you're

my friend, or whatever.

So, how do you like it?

Do you like it?

Okay?

It's okay.

It's not bad.

And finally, especially if you're learning a language, or sometimes even in your own

language, you forget how to say something, and it's driving you crazy, because you say,

oh my god, how do you say blah, blah, blah?

How do you say this phrase or this word again?

I don't remember.

So, just to make things fun, how do you say "chair" in your language?

Tell me in the comments, okay?

How do you say "chair" in your language?

Chair?

You sit on it?

Tell me.

Maybe I can learn a little bit more about you guys.

So, we have a lot of common sentences, a lot of common questions here.

Let's repeat them one more time, and this time I want you to get involved and repeat

after me.

How come?

How so?

How did you do that?

How is it?

How much is it?

How many are there?

And remember, "are" is the present, "were" is the past, how many were there, and this

needs to be plural, okay?

Always plural.

So, people, pencils, computers, phones, whatever it is.

How long have you known each other?

How about this one?

How do you like it?

How do you say "chair" in your language?

Perfect.

So, if you want to test your understanding of these questions, as always, you can check

out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

And if you enjoyed this video and you want to see more of me and of my lessons, as always,

check me out on YouTube where you can subscribe, like, share, comment.

I'm pretty active in the comments.

If you say something, I will probably respond.

If I don't, please don't be upset.

I try to answer as many questions and as many comments as I can, or I'll at least give you

a heart because I love you.

Really.

All right?

So, as always, thanks for clicking, guys.

I really appreciate your support after all these years, and here's to many more years

to come.

Right?

I can't think of a clever way to end this video, so I'm just going to walk this way,

and yeah.

Until next time, peace.