Learn English – “How do we call (something) in English?”

grammarworld-english

Is it really wrong to say "How do we call something in English?" instead of "What do we call something in English?"? The former's not unusual in Philippine English at all (probably it's because of the influence of Spanish, which was the national language for almost 400 years). Indeed, it's quite interesting that in many European languages, they tend to say "how". Anyone who can explain this? Thanks a lot.

Best Answer

This question on Pearson's English Language Teaching site pretty much answers your question.

To summarize:

In the sentence "What is this called in English?" the speaker is looking for the name of something to be substituted for the pronoun what. The speaker needs a noun or noun construction to identify the thing that the word what refers to.

In contrast, "How is it called in English?" does not make sense. How asks for information about the manner of doing something, or the degree or quantity of something.

The article goes on to conclude:

  • "How do you say that?" asks for a word, a phrase, a sentence or a paraphrase. It is quite comprehensive.
  • "What do you call that?" asks for a noun or noun construction. It's very specific.
  • "How do you call that?" is incorrect.
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