What does he look like?

Hello and welcome to the Gold Forest English podcast. My name is Jordan.

Today, I want to talk about some very common questions that can be easily confused. In English, we've got many different question words. There are seven main question words that we often use that you probably know. We've got the words who, what, where, why, and when. We also have which and how.

Two of those words I want to pick out and talk about today are what and how.

So let's think about the differences between these words, specifically when describing people. There are two very common questions: What does he look like? and How does he look? These two questions are very common, very normal, and they seem quite similar, but the meaning is very different.

Today, I want to talk about the difference between:

- What does he look like?

- What does she look like?

- What does it taste like?

- What does it sound like?

- What does it feel like?

And:

- How does he look?

- How does she look?

- How does it taste?

- How does it sound?, etc...

So, our main difference is using the question word what with the word like.

What does he look like? This question is asking for a description of the person.

For example: He is tall, slim. He has brown hair and black eyes.

How does he look? This question is asking for an opinion.

For example: He looks fashionable. He looks intelligent. He looks great.

So the main difference is:

- What does he look like? = appearance (description)

- How does he look? = opinion

This same rule can be applied to many different verbs.

What does it taste like? is asking for a description.

How does it taste? is asking for an opinion.

For example:

- What does it taste like? → It tastes like chicken. It tastes like edamame.

- How does it taste? → It tastes good. It tastes unusual. I don't like it.

So again:

- What does it taste like? = description

- How does it taste? = opinion

This pattern is a very simple one that can apply to many different verbs. Using what + like in a question is for description. It's about facts, appearance, taste, sound, or smell.

Using how in a question is for opinions.

How does it taste? How does it feel? How does he look? How does she sound? These are all asking for your opinion about the thing or the person.

It's a very simple difference between these two types of questions, but it's very important. These are very common questions in daily English.

The most important thing to remember is the word like. We use the word like with what questions:

- What does it taste like?

But we do not use like with how questions:

- How does it taste? (correct)

- How does it taste like? (incorrect)

That's the key point to remember.

So, a very simple point for today, but quite an important one.

As always, I've written a blog post on the GoldForestAcademy.com website under the free study content page. You'll find the blog post all about this topic, with several more examples and some practice questions for you to try.

That's going to be it for today's podcast, a short one. Thank you very much for listening. I hope you're doing well. I'll see you in the next episode. Goodbye.