how

[haʊ] 1.

avverbio

1) (in what way, by what means) come

how did you make it? — come l'hai fatto?

to know how to do — sapere come fare

I learned how to do it — ho imparato a farlo

how do you feel about it? — cosa ne pensi?

2) (enquiring)

how are you? — come stai?

how's your foot? — come va il piede?

how's your brother? — come sta tuo fratello?

how did you like the party? — ti è piaciuta la festa?

how's everything? how are things? come va? how do you do! — (greeting) piacere!

3) (in number, quantity questions)

how much does this cost? how much is this? quanto costa? how much do you weigh? quanto pesi? how many times have you been to France? quante volte sei stato in Francia? I don't know how many people will come non so quante persone verranno; how much time is there left? quanto tempo è rimasto? how long is the rope? quanto è lunga la corda? how old is he? quanti anni ha? how tall is the tree? quanto è alto l'albero? how far is it? — quanto dista?

4) (in exclamations)

how wonderful! — magnifico!

how nice you look! — come sei carina!

how clever of him! — è stato furbo da parte sua!

how wrong I was! — come mi sono sbagliato!

how it rained! — come pioveva!

5) (why)

how could you? — come hai potuto?

6) how come colloq.

"I don't like it" - "how come?" — "non mi piace" - "come mai?"

how come you always win? — perché vinci sempre?

7) how's that

I'll take you home, how's that? — ti porto a casa, ti va?

how's that for an honest answer — è una risposta onesta, non ti pare?

"he's called Nick" - "how's that?" — "si chiama Nick" - "come (hai detto)?"

2.

congiunzione

1) colloq. (in whichever way) come

you can decorate it how you like — puoi decorarlo come vuoi

2) (that) che

you know how he always arrives late — sai che arriva sempre tardi

••

and how! — eccome! altroché!

••

Note:

The different constructions of direct and indirect questions with how are to be noted: in direct questions, how is at the beginning of the sentence and the auxiliary precedes the subject (how could you do that? = come hai potuto farlo?); in indirect questions, the subject precedes the verb (please, tell me how you could do that = per favore, dimmi come hai potuto farlo) or, alternatively, a verb in the infinitive may be used (please, tell me how to use this tool = per favore, dimmi come usare / come si usa questo strumento). - How may precede an adjective (how nice she is! = com'è carina!), an adverb (how often do you go to the cinema? = quanto spesso vai al cinema?), or a verb clause (how I wish I could swim! = quanto vorrei saper nuotare!). - When how is used as a question word meaning in what way ? or by what means? it is almost always translated by come: how did you get here? = come ci sei arrivato? how will you do it? = come lo farai? - When how is used as a conjunction meaning the way in which, it is often translated by come: I don't know how they did it = non so come l'hanno fatto; tell me how you write this word = dimmi come si scrive questa parola. - When how is used as a conjunction meaning that, it is almost always translated by che: you know how he always arrives late = sai che arriva sempre tardi; it's amazing how they survived = è sorprendente che siano sopravvissuti. - For more examples and particular usages see below

* * *

1. adverb, conjunction

1) (in what way: How do you make bread?) come

2) (to what extent: How do you like my new hat?; How far is Paris from London?) come, quanto

3) (by what means: I've no idea how he came here.) come

4) (in what condition: How are you today?; How do I look?) come

5) (for what reason: How is it that I am the last to know about this?) come

•

- however

2. conjunction

(in no matter what way: This painting still looks wrong however you look at it.) in qualsiasi modo

- how about

- how come
- how do you do?

* * *

[haʊ] 1.

avverbio

1) (in what way, by what means) come

how did you make it? — come l'hai fatto?

to know how to do — sapere come fare

I learned how to do it — ho imparato a farlo

how do you feel about it? — cosa ne pensi?

2) (enquiring)

how are you? — come stai?

how's your foot? — come va il piede?

how's your brother? — come sta tuo fratello?

how did you like the party? — ti è piaciuta la festa?

how's everything? how are things? come va? how do you do! — (greeting) piacere!

3) (in number, quantity questions)

how much does this cost? how much is this? quanto costa? how much do you weigh? quanto pesi? how many times have you been to France? quante volte sei stato in Francia? I don't know how many people will come non so quante persone verranno; how much time is there left? quanto tempo è rimasto? how long is the rope? quanto è lunga la corda? how old is he? quanti anni ha? how tall is the tree? quanto è alto l'albero? how far is it? — quanto dista?

4) (in exclamations)

how wonderful! — magnifico!

how nice you look! — come sei carina!

how clever of him! — è stato furbo da parte sua!

how wrong I was! — come mi sono sbagliato!

how it rained! — come pioveva!

5) (why)

how could you? — come hai potuto?

6) how come colloq.

"I don't like it" - "how come?" — "non mi piace" - "come mai?"

how come you always win? — perché vinci sempre?

7) how's that

I'll take you home, how's that? — ti porto a casa, ti va?

how's that for an honest answer — è una risposta onesta, non ti pare?

"he's called Nick" - "how's that?" — "si chiama Nick" - "come (hai detto)?"

2.

congiunzione

1) colloq. (in whichever way) come

you can decorate it how you like — puoi decorarlo come vuoi

2) (that) che

you know how he always arrives late — sai che arriva sempre tardi

••

and how! — eccome! altroché!

••

Note:

The different constructions of direct and indirect questions with how are to be noted: in direct questions, how is at the beginning of the sentence and the auxiliary precedes the subject (how could you do that? = come hai potuto farlo?); in indirect questions, the subject precedes the verb (please, tell me how you could do that = per favore, dimmi come hai potuto farlo) or, alternatively, a verb in the infinitive may be used (please, tell me how to use this tool = per favore, dimmi come usare / come si usa questo strumento). - How may precede an adjective (how nice she is! = com'è carina!), an adverb (how often do you go to the cinema? = quanto spesso vai al cinema?), or a verb clause (how I wish I could swim! = quanto vorrei saper nuotare!). - When how is used as a question word meaning in what way ? or by what means? it is almost always translated by come: how did you get here? = come ci sei arrivato? how will you do it? = come lo farai? - When how is used as a conjunction meaning the way in which, it is often translated by come: I don't know how they did it = non so come l'hanno fatto; tell me how you write this word = dimmi come si scrive questa parola. - When how is used as a conjunction meaning that, it is almost always translated by che: you know how he always arrives late = sai che arriva sempre tardi; it's amazing how they survived = è sorprendente che siano sopravvissuti. - For more examples and particular usages see below