How vs. What

Question

When asking someone their opinion of something, which of the following is INCORRECT?:
(1) What do you think?
(2) How do you think?
(3) What do you think of that?
(4) What do you think about that?
(5) How do you think of that?
(6) How do you think about that?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

First, what is your answer?

Clive

JungKim · Answer

CliveFirst, what is your answer?

My answer is not important.
Rest assured that I'm not doing some homework here.

The reason why I'm asking is that I'd like to figure out what native speakers feel about these sentences.
I'm trying to understand how it works.
So please help.

Clive · Answer

Hi,
When asking someone their opinion of something, which of the following is INCORRECT?:
(1) What do you think?
(2) How do you think? Incorrect
(3) What do you think of that?
(4) What do you think about that?
(5) How do you think of that?Incorrect
(6) How do you think about that?Incorrect

Clive

JungKim · Answer

Thanks for your answers.
I, too, thought that "what" was to be used in this context.
But then I came across this:
How do you think about genre these days, and how does that compare with when you first broke into the music industry?
@http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-30/lionel-richie-on-surviving-the-cut-throat-music-business

What do you think?

RandomGuy · Answer

I must say, JungKim, that you are unusually articulate for a non-native speaker. How long have you been speaking English?

Khoff · Answer

JungKimHow do you think about genre these days,

This is a bit different. It's not asking "what" he think about genre, but "how" he thinks about it -- it's hard to put my finger on the difference, but it's not so much asking for his opinion as his point of reference, or the context in which he considers genre.

I'm not very familiar with music terminology, so let me try to come up with a different example. I am a knitter. If someone asked me "How do you think about color these days in your knitting," I might say "I think about color in terms of the energy it gives a fabric -- do I want a calm, comforting sensation, or something more energetic and vibrant?" Someone else might say "I think about color as a way to highlight certain stitch patterns and make them stand out against the background." Does that make any sense??

JungKim · Answer

Aspara Gusyou are unusually articulate for a non-native speaker. How long have you been speaking English?

I'll take that as a compliment.

Actually, I'm currently not really "speaking English" per se on a daily basis since I don't live in an English speaking country anymore, although I used to live in the States for several years.

JungKim · Answer

khoffit's not so much asking for his opinion as his point of reference, or the context in which he considers genre.

This part is rather abstract and kind of beyond my grasp.

khoffIf someone asked me "How do you think about color these days in your knitting," I might say "I think about color in terms of the energy it gives a fabric -- do I want a calm, comforting sensation, or something more energetic and vibrant?" Someone else might say "I think about color as a way to highlight certain stitch patterns and make them stand out against the background."

Thanks for your example.
In your knitting example, what if I asked you "What do you think about color these days in your knitting?"
First, does this question make any sense?
Second, if it does, what would your answer be like?

Khoff · Answer

It is kind of abstract.

Long ago, someone said to me, "When you're a new knitter, you think color is the most important thing. After you've been knitting a while, you'll find that texture is more important." If that same person came to me know and said, "So, what do you think about color now?" I would say, "I still think it's the most important thing."

In the absence of a specific context like that, though, "what do you think about color in your knitting" is a pretty vague question. (Of course, if the question was "What do you think about this color?" it would be a perfectly ordinary question.) On the other hand, I can't say I see a whole lot of sense in the original question, "How do you think about genre?" I guess what I was trying to say is that "how do you think about X" is a much more philosophical question than "what do you think about X?" It's not "wrong," but it's certainly not a question you would hear frequently in ordinary conversation.

I'm afraid this is all getting very vague and abstract -- maybe I'm not making any sense.

RandomGuy · Answer

khoffcame to me know

On the subject of knitting, I would do just about anything for one of these:

[img:450]#r7vvlbpwzy0qy4m.jpg[/img]

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