如何
how; in what way; how about (formal 怎么／怎么样)
Structure
如何 + 动词 · 动词 + 得 如何 · …如何？
What it means
“How; how about”: the written and formal word for 怎么 and 怎么样.
How it is built
如何 + verb: 社会应该如何应对老龄化？ (how should society respond to ageing?) At the end for an opinion: 你觉得如何？ After 得: 考得如何？
When to use it
Headlines, essays, speeches and polite questions; in everyday chat 怎么 sounds more natural. Set phrases: 无论如何 (no matter what), 不知如何是好 (not know what to do).
Watch out
如何 asks only “how”, never “why”. 你怎么没来？ can mean “why didn’t you come?”, but ✗ 你如何没来 is wrong: ✓ 你为何没来 or 你为什么没来.
Examples
相差三十二岁的母女是如何看待对方的呢？
How do a mother and daughter thirty-two years apart see each other?
社会应该如何应对人口老龄化？
How should society respond to an ageing population?
这次考试你觉得考得如何？
How do you think the exam went?
Learn this in Lesson 49 · HSK 5–6: 代沟 (The generation gap)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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