Is it correct to ask "how do you say 'tower' in Spanish?" or should we actually ask "what's the Spanish word for 'tower'?" Some people say that if I ask "how do you say…" the answer would be softly, loudly etc., as if how was functioning as an adverb of manner and that was its only function. So, the correct question would be "what's the Spanish word for…"
What do you think? is there any grammar rule that could help me understand the difference between these two questions?
Best Answer
As Kristina says, what's the word for... asks for a specific word, while how do you say... could be a word or a phrase.
Both ways are perfectly fine and idiomatic. A pedant myself, the argument "how asks for an adverb of manner" sounds like a joke to me, wordplay, not something one would say in all seriousness. You can express a "manner" in more ways than just by a single adverb; a sequence of sounds (like a phrase) is a manner or way to express a thought, a way of saying something.