"How do you mean?" vs "What do you mean?"

Question

HiCould you please explain to me the difference between:How do you mean?What do you mean?Are they synonymous?Thanks,Tom

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

I think it's better to think of these as two different questions.

What do you mean? asks for a complete explanation. The speaker did not understand any of what was said, or understood very little of it.

How do you mean? asks in what way what was said is true. The speaker understood the main idea of what was said, but wants clarification of the sense in which it was intended or how it applies to specific situations.

Some people do occasionally use "How" instead of "What", or "What" instead of "How", but the usual word is "What" when you ask what someone means -- unless you are really asking for the sense in which what was said is true.

CJ

Mr. Tom · Answer

Many thanks, CJ!

Your answer is a complete lesson indeed! As usual, I appreciate(d) the effort.

Tom

Mr. Tom · Answer

Hi

I would like to know who verified CJ's post, please.

Tom

CalifJim · Answer

Grammar Geek

Mr. Tom · Answer

Thanks, CJ!

Why don't you suggest to the admin that the members should be allowed to see the verifier of the posts? At least the 'trusted members'!

Tom

Park sang joon · Answer

I'm so sorry for my so very belated question and its being off the topic.

It's about your wording used in post #2 as answer to difference between "What do you mean?" and "How do you mean?".

How do you mean? asks in what way what was said is true.

I'd like to know if I can rephrase "asks in what way what was said is true" as "asks what way what was said is true in."

CalifJim · Answer

park sang joonI'd like to know if I can rephrase "asks in what way what was said is true" as "asks what way what was said is true in."

You can, but frankly no native speaker would rephrase it like that. There are too many words between "what" and "in", which go together in a meaningful way. By putting the two close together ("in what") you make the phrase easier to understand.

CJ

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr.Jim, so much for your so very kind answer.

I thought in any indirect questions, prepositions should be positioned at the end of sentences in terms of common practice.
I was wondering if I have a wrong knowledge.

CalifJim · Answer

park sang joonI thought in any indirect questions, prepositions should be positioned at the end of sentences in terms of common practice.

No, the placement of prepositions is not related to indirect questions except as an alternative. There is no requirement regarding prepositions so the choice of alternatives is a matter of style and common practice.

asks [in what way what was said is true].

The indirect question (in brackets and boldface above) comes from the statement:

What was said | is true | in some way.

To form the indirect question all you need to do is change 'some' to 'what' and move 'in some way' to the beginning of the clause because that's the part of the sentence that contains the question word:

in what way | what was said | is true

(The direct question is formed by inverting subject and verb (underlined), but this is irrelevant to your question:

In what way is what was said true? )
_______________

The alternative is to move only "some way", stranding the preposition at the end.

Indirect question: what way what was said is true in
(Direct: What way is what was said true in?)

The complexity of the subject argues against this form, as I mentioned above. A simpler grouping might strand the preposition:

Direct: Which restaurant did they go to? / To which restaurant did they go?

Indirect: (Fred asked) which restaurant they went to. / (Fred asked) to which restaurant they went.
________________

Another reason why the preposition is not stranded in certain cases is that it is not usually stranded in the corresponding direct question in those cases. The usual direct question using "in what way", for example, is "In what way do they cook this kind of fish?", not "What way do they cook this kind of fish in?" Thus, the corresponding indirect question would be "in what way they cook this kind of fish", not "what way they cook this kind of fish in".

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Yes they are synonyms(!)

"How do you mean?" vs "What do you mean?"

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