What about how about difference

Difference Between | Descriptive Analysis and Comparisons

Key difference: ‘How About You’ and ‘What About You’ are two questions that are often asked in order to inquire or find out about the other person. Both phrases are actually often interchangeable. Additionally, both can also be interchanged with just ‘you?’ Generally, ‘how about you?’ tends to carry to a more laid back implication to it. Furthermore, a general rule of thumb is that ‘how about you’ is usually used when asking about feelings, emotions, or anything personal, while, ‘what about you’ is used when asking about objects or places.

‘How About You’ and ‘What About You’ are two questions that are often asked in order to inquire or find out about the other person. They are generally used as a follow-up question to the one previously asked by the other person. For example: How are you doing? Quite well actually, how about you?

Both phrases are actually often interchangeable. Additionally, both can also be interchanged with just ‘you?’ For example: ‘What have you been up to?’ “Nothing much, what about you?” Or “Nothing much, how about you? Or “Nothing much, you?” Each one of these responses is acceptable.

Still, there are some instances, where it is more appropriate to use one or the other. In these instances, interchanging the how or what may lead to the sentence sounding off or weird or even just plain wrong.

Generally, ‘how about you?’ tends to carry to a more laid back implication to it. It expands, rather than restricts, the possibilities. Whereas, ‘what about you?’ tends to imply that there is an objection or potential obstacle into consideration.

Let’s consider an example:

“We are going to go see a movie tonight. How about you?” This implies that we are going to go see a movie, and that you are welcome to join us.

“We are going to go see a movie tonight. What about you?” In this instance, this can be taken to mean that we are going to go see a movie, but the speaker is just generally or politely inquiring about what the other person is doing that night. There is no implication of an invitation. After the inquiry, an invitation may or may not follow.

Furthermore, a general rule of thumb is that ‘how about you’ is usually used when asking about feelings, emotions, or anything personal, while, ‘what about you’ is used when asking about objects or places.

For example:

“I’m getting bored staying in the house all day. How about you?” This is talking about the person feeling bored. As it is a feeling and it is personal, ‘how about you’ is used.

“I’m bored. I’m going to play a videogame. What about you?” This is about the person playing a game, which is an object. Hence, ‘what about you’ is used.

Basically, ‘how about you’ is slightly more positive or upbeat than ‘what about you’, which is just a flat inquiry without a hint of the speaker’s emotion. However, none of these rules are hard and fast, which means that it is generally better to use the one that sounds right.

Further examples:

Difference Between How About and What About

September 14, 2016 Posted by Hasa

Key Difference – How About vs What About

How about and what about are two informal question formats we use in everyday life. Even though they have overlapping uses, there are some unique contexts, where they cannot be used interchangeably. The key difference between how about and what about is that how about is used with suggestions whereas what about is used with potential problems.

When to Use How About?

How about can be used to suggest an action or to open possibilities. This form is often followed by the present participle form of a verb or by a pronoun and an infinitive. It is sometimes also followed by a noun or noun phrase.

You can use this format

-to suggest someone something

I’m free this evening. How about going out? (Let’s go out)

How about we go for a movie? (Let’s go for a movie)

(pronoun and infinitive)

-to ask someone to give you something

Oh, you got some extra money? How about giving me a loan? (Can you give me a loan?)

– to ask someone if they are willing to do something

How about buying me a drink? (Will you buy me a drink?)

How about a glass of wine?

When to Use What About?

What about is usually used to refer to a potential problem or an object. To be more specific, it is used to ask what should be done about something. The expression what about is usually followed by a noun or a noun phrase.

Let’s go on a trip!

But, what about my dance classes?

Burn all her clothes.

What about her jewelry?

I’ll be safe, but what about all the other people who don’t have money?

A: Throw away the broken glass
B: But, what about the mess?

Interchangeability of How about and What about

How about and What about can be used interchangeably in the following contexts:

– to ask someone to respond to what you just said:

I work at the local hospital. What about you?

I work at the local hospital. How about you?

I like this movie. What about you?

I like this movie. How about you?

– to ask whether something/ someone is included:

Jeanne, Rex, Leo, and Anna are going. What about Nate?

Jeanne, Rex, Leo, and Anna are going. How about Nate?

What is the difference between How About and What About?

How About suggests an action or opens possibilities.

What About refers to an object or implies potential problems.

Formation:

How About is followed by a present participle verb or a pronoun and an infinitive

What About is followed by a noun or a noun phrase.

Related posts:

About the Author: Hasa

Hasa is a BA graduate in the field of Humanities and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in the field of English language and literature. Her areas of interests include language, literature, linguistics and culture.

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«How about» vs. «What about»

Is there a difference between starting a question with How about and What about?
Can we use both expressions interchangeably?

5 Answers 5

I think they can be used interchangeably, there is a lot of overlap between the two, but I would usually use

«How about» when making a suggestion that I feel is best.

I would use «What about» when I am less set on the idea and more willing to listen to other suggestions.

«What about» can also express an objection, whereas «how about» does not.

How about going to a movie?

I would love to, but what about the kids? [meaning that we would have to arrange for their care]

From what I´ve learned teaching English, and what I´ve seen in most books, the difference is that we use WHAT ABOUT + noun, and HOW ABOUT + verb. It´s a pretty simple explanation, but that´s how it´s being taught in schools in Brazil.

This is a very good way to describe it. Here are some examples:

Andy: «I’m bored. There’s nothing to do.» Danny: «How about we go see a movie?»

Andy: «I’m bored. Let’s go see a movie.» Danny: «What about our exams tomorrow?»

In the first example, Danny expands the possibilities: Andy thought there was nothing to do, but Danny reminded him that they could see a movie.

In the second example, Danny limited the possibilities: Andy wanted to see a movie, but Danny reminded him that they had to study for their exams.

On a side note, «what about» cannot take a sentence. «What about we see a movie?» is wrong. You can say, however «What about seeing a movie?» or «What about a movie?»

I was just asked this question by a friend of mine, and after pausing to analyze my native intuition, I googled to see if anyone had done a more thorough analysis.

The answers here helped solidify my sense of the difference, but none of them entirely captured the difference that I perceive, though several touched on it.

It seems to me that, while there is much similarity and overlap between these two expressions, the difference is in focus.

When you say «how about we get coffee?» you are primarily asking for an affirmative or negative reply. You are making a suggestion that you (normally) hope will be accepted. (This, incidentally, fits very closely with the fact that you can use a full independent clause with how about, since you need to be able to do that to make a suggestion or advance a complete idea.)

When you say «what about tea?» you are primarily asking for information or feedback on some thing (a noun or noun phrase, in this case—not an independent clause). In some cases it is an alternative given after a suggestion given with how about has been rejected, since (in that case) there is no need to mention the whole idea, but only one item in it.

«What about you?» versus «How about you?»

They both seem to work interchangeably, but there feels like a subtle difference and I can’t quite pin it down.

Similar but a little bit different from «How about» vs. «What about», the same arguments do not apply because we are always referring to «you».

3 Answers 3

As a native English speaker, I feel they have different implicit meanings. Without knowing the context, this is how I interpret them:

I’m going straight home after work. How about you?

I’m going straight home after work, which I assume you are also doing, would you like to accompany me as far as it is possible to travel together? Or, can I give you a lift?

I’m going straight home after work. What about you?

I am going straight home after work. You are not invited to join me, and I am not interested in doing anything with you, but I expect you will not be going straight home and I am curious where you are going instead.

John Lawler put it excellently in his comment above: «‘What about you?’ requests a statement about you in general, while ‘How about you?’ requests a response about your manner, means, or condition.»

From my point of view, if the difference between what about and how about in general is slight, the difference between what about you and how about you is even slighter. They are certainly interchangeable, as you mentioned, but I would go so far as to say that their common usages are semantically indistinguishable.

In point of usage, Ngrams shows a slight preference for What about you:

COCA shows 770 instances of how about you, the vast majority of which are in the proper context (a few are in the form of how about you do so-and-so), and 1002 of what about you, all of which that I saw were in this context. BNC has 78 versus 202, an even more marked difference.

Disclaimer regarding Ngram chart: see this meta post for important info on this internet resource.

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How about or What about? – What’s the difference?

Use “How about?” to give suggestion.

A: I’ve got the day off from work tomorrow. What should we do?

B: How about going to the cinema?

A: Nah. I don’t really feel like going out.

B: How about we just rent a DVD and watch it at home?

A: That sounds good.

“How about?” can be followed by verb-ing or by a pronoun and verb1.

• How about going to the cinema?

• How about we rent a DVD?

“What about?” is often used when someone is asking for an opinion to a choice.

• What about the green one? That looks pretty on you.

We can also use “What about?” to mention an objection.

A: Let’s spend the weekend in the city.

B: But what about my piano lesson on Saturday?

A: That’s no problem, just talk to the teacher and reschedule it.

“How about you?” or “What about you?”

“How have you been?” — “Good. A little busy with school. How about you?”

“Where do you work?” — “At a law firm. What about you?”

In this case, “How about you?” and “What about you?” are asking the same question back to the other person.