In this spoken English lessons you will learn the most confusing question words ‘How about’ and ‘What about’ . There’s isn’t a major difference, but both these question words are used in different context in English.
How About ?
“How about?” is used to suggest an action and to “open” different possibilities:
- Example : How about a vacation to Singapore?
- Example : How about applying for that job at the bank?
What About?
“What about?” is used to mention an objection or a potential problem:
- Example : What about my English class that falls on the same time?
- Example : What about your dog?
There are cases wherein ‘What about?’ & ‘How about?’ can be used interchangeably, that’s when you are asking about what someone is doing or feeling.
Example :
“How have you been?”
“Good – a little busy with school. How about you?”
“Where do you work?”
“At the local university. What about you?”
In this case, How about you? and What about you? are asking the same question back to the other person.