different between somehow vs how

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?mha?/

Adverb

somehow (not comparable)

1. In one way or another; in a way not yet known or explained; by some means
   • December 1, 2016, Tom Donaghy writing in The New York Times, Tender Side of Edward Albee

     It’s not by accident Edward wrote “The Goat,” “The Zoo Story” or “Seascape,” with its two lizards, Sarah and Leslie. In fact, in all of his plays the animal is pretty prominent, somehow or other.

   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.

   • 1895, William Dean Howells, Mortality

     Have I not loathed to live again and said
     It would have been far better to be dead,
     And yet somehow, I know not why,
     Remained afraid to die!

Usage notes

The indefiniteness of somehow is emphasized by the addition of or other, or another or or the other.

Synonyms

• somewise
• someway

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• 'ow

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: hou, IPA^(key): /ha?/
• (General New Zealand, General Australian) IPA^(key): /hæ?/
• Rhymes: -a?

Etymology 1

From Middle English how, hou, hu, hwu, from Old English h?, from Proto-Germanic *hw?, from the same root as hwæt (“who, what”). /hw/ > /h/ due to wh-cluster reduction in Old English; compare who, which underwent this change later, and thus is spelt wh (Middle English spelling of /hw/) but pronounced /h/ (it previously had a different vowel, hence avoided the spelling and sound change in Old English). Vowel change per Great Vowel Shift.

Akin to Scots hoo, foo (“how”), Saterland Frisian wo (“how”), West Frisian hoe (“how”), Low German ho, wo, wu (“how”), Dutch hoe (“how”), German wie (“how”), Swedish hur (“how”). See who and compare why.

Adverb

how (not comparable)

1. To what degree.

   The gauge indicated how hot the oven was.
2. In what manner.

   She showed him how to do it.
3. In what state.

   How are you?

   How was your vacation?

   How the stock market interprets events has real consequences.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     How's the new apartment? — The new apartment is great!

4. Used as a modifier to indicate surprise, delight, or other strong feelings in an exclamation.

Usage notes

• See usage notes on else (adverb).
• How good is it? means "To what extent is it good?", whereas How is it good? means "In what manner is it good?". Likewise, I know how good it is means "I know the extent to which it is good", whereas I know how it is good means "I know the manner in which it is good".

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

how (plural hows or how's)

1. The means by which something is accomplished.

   I am not interested in the why, but in the how.

Conjunction

how

1. The manner or way that.

   I remember how I solved this puzzle.

2. That, the fact that, the way that.
   • 2010 April 24, Jesse McKinley, “Don’t Call It ‘Pot’ in This Circle; It’s a Profession”, in The New York Times, page A1:

     “There’s this real Al Capone fear that they’re going to get our guys, not on marijuana, but on something else,” Mr. Edson said, referring to how Capone was eventually charged with tax evasion rather than criminal activity.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English howe, hough, hogh, partly from Old English h?h (“promontory”), and partly from Old Norse haugr (“a how, mound”). Compare Old French höe (“hillock, hill”), from the same Germanic source.

Noun

how (plural hows)

1. (dialectal) An artificial barrow or tumulus.
2. (dialectal) A small hill in northern England. (Usage preserved mainly in place names.)

Etymology 3

From a Siouan language; compare Lakota háu. Alternatively from Wyandot haau.

Alternative forms

• howgh

Interjection

how

1. A greeting, used in representations of Native American speech.

References

• how in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “how” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• how at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• W.H.O., WHO, Who, who

Abau

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hou/

Noun

how

1. taro

Alabama

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Adverb

how

1. yes

Synonyms

• yamá

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?w/, [ow]

Adverb

how

1. here

Further reading

• how in Ernst Muka/Mucke (St. Petersburg and Prague 1911–28): S?ownik dolnoserbskeje r?cy a jeje nar?cow / Wörterbuch der nieder-wendischen Sprache und ihrer Dialekte. Reprinted 2008, Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
• how in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski s?ownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.