How does she look?

Question

Hi,I know when you say How is she? you are asking about her health, and not about physical appearance. can you think of any other cases where this structure would have another mening and wouldn't refer to health? If you could give some brief examples, I'd appreciate that.To ask about her appearance, I know I can say What does she look like? The question is, can the following be used with the same meaning?How does she look?What is she like?I know the last one, What is she like?, is used to ask about a person in a very general way, so I was wondering if that also included physical appearance and could be used instead of What does she look like?Any additional comments will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Yankee · Accepted Answer

Hi Kooyeen

The question "How is she" is very often a question about health, but not necessarily a question about health. It depends on the context (particularly in this third person construction):

A: We got a new boss last week. Her name is Jane Smith.
B: Oh, really? How is she?

In the conversation above, the question is not about health, but instead it basically asks for a general description of Jane Smith as a boss.

The question "How does she look" is likely to be a question about appearance as related to health, but again, context may change that.

I doubt that I would ever interchange "What is she like?" with "What does she look like?" when referring to a living being. To me, "What is she like?" asks about personality rather than appearance. If the reference were to a car, for example, then the question "What is she like?" might refer to performance and/or appearance. (Some people refer to their beloved cars as "she".

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Kooyeen · Answer

Ok, I see I'd better keep "What does she look like?" and "What is she like?" separate, and not use "How does she look?"
Thanks a lot.

PS: yeah, "she" for cars... I think I even heard "hip-hop" called "she"... Hip-hop just died this mornin', and she's dead, she's dead.

Yankee · Answer

Hip-hop referred to as "she"?

Well, I suppose my surprise could reflect the frequency with which I listen to hip-hop. (Hardly ever)

Just to clarify, the question "How does/did she look?" is generally related to appearance, which can include health-related appearance. For example:

If Beth had recently visited Cathy in the hospital, it wouldn't be unusual for Amy to ask Beth "How did Cathy look?"

If Alice knew that Cindy had bought an extravagant new dress for a party, and then after the party Alice ran into Betty, who had been at the same party as Cindy, Alice might ask "How did Cindy look (in her expensive dress)?"

Kooyeen · Answer

I usually don't listen to hip-hop either, but I hear it on the radio, and it's the main reason why you might catch me saying "she don't..." And I'm not kidding, LOL

Anyway, thank you again. I understand your examples, they all sound natural and amke sense to me. But there problem now is... well, it's the same as before! What exactly is the difference between What does she look like? and How does she look? I don't think there's a clear-cut distinction, so I'm afraid that would be pretty difficult to explain, but if anyone has any comments, I'll appreciate them.

Thanks

How does she look?

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