Meaning & use
about how
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
Used before a number or amount to mean 'approximately' or 'a little more or less than'.
Grammar: Comes before a quantity: about how many, about how long, about how much.
Patterns
- about how much
- about how many
- about how long
- about how far
About how many people came to the party?
Can you tell me about how long the flight takes?
I don't know the exact cost, but it's about how much you'd pay for a nice dinner.
phrasefixed phrase
Used to introduce a topic or method, meaning 'concerning the way that' or 'regarding how'.
Grammar: Often followed by a clause: about how she did it.
Patterns
- about how to do something
- about how something works
- about how someone feels
We talked about how to solve the problem.
She wrote an article about how bees communicate.
He was curious about how the machine was built.
Common combinations
- about how much
- About how much does a ticket cost?
- about how many
- About how many students are in each class?
- about how long
- About how long will the repair take?
- about how to
- She asked about how to apply for a visa.
Synonyms and how they differ
- approximately how
- More formal; used in writing or careful speech, while 'about how' is common in everyday questions.
- roughly how
- Similar in meaning but slightly more informal; often suggests an even less exact estimate.
Commonly confused: about how or how about?
about how vs how about
'How about' is used to make a suggestion (How about a coffee?), while 'about how' asks for an approximate amount or discusses a method.
Practice
Choose the correct phrase: '___ people live in your city?'
Choose one answer.
'People' is a countable noun, so 'how many' is correct. 'How much' is for uncountable nouns, 'how long' asks about time or length, and 'how far' asks about distance.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “about how”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.