Formally, in my English education, I have learned to ask for the outward appearance of something using the expression:
"What does it look like?"
Since my mother tongue is German and we say "Wie sieht es aus?", I frequently catch myself saying:
"How does it look?"
which would be the direct translation from German.
Since I think the translation does not sound wrong (I am certainly biased though) I would like to ask you if this is correct English in at least some cases or just a mistake of mine?
Thanks!
Best Answer
In English, “How does it look?” generally asks for a value judgment, whereas “What does it look like?” asks for a physical description.
versus:
The questions have more overlap when discussing more abstract subjects:
In this case, the answers would still be reasonable with the questions reversed.