Help vs How - What's the difference?
help | how |
(uncountable) Action given to provide assistance; aid.
(usually, uncountable) Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.
Documentation provided with computer software, etc. and accessed using the computer.
(usually, uncountable) One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
(uncountable, euphemistic) Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
To provide assistance to (someone or something).
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= To contribute in some way to.
To provide assistance.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=19 * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can .
To what degree.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait.}}
In what manner.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
, title=
In what state.
The means by which something is accomplished.
* 1924 , Joseph Rickaby, Studies on God and His Creatures? , p. 102:
In which way; in such way.
That, the fact that, the way that.
* 2010 April 24, Jesse McKinley, “
(dialectal) An artificial barrow or tumulus.
(dialectal) A small hill in northern England. (Usage preserved mainly in place names.)
As nouns the difference between help and how
is that help is (uncountable) action given to provide assistance; aid while how is the means by which something is accomplished or how can be (dialectal) an artificial barrow or tumulus.As a verb help
is to provide assistance to (someone or something).As an adverb how is
to what degree.As a conjunction how is
in which way; in such way.As an interjection how is
.help
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) .Noun
(en-noun)- I need some help with my homework.
- He was a great help to me when I was moving house.
- I've printed out a list of math helps .
- I can't find anything in the help about rotating an image.
- The help is coming round this morning to clean.
- Most of the hired help is seasonal, for the harvest.
- His suicide attempts were a cry for help .
- He really needs help in handling customer complaints.
- ''"He's a real road-rager." / "Yup, he really needs help , maybe anger management."
Usage notes
The sense "people employed to help in the maintenance of a house" is usually an uncountable mass noun. A countable form - "a hired help''", "''two hired helps " - is attested, but now less common.Quotations
(English Citations of "help")Synonyms
* (action given to provide assistance) aid, assistance * (person or persons who provide assistance) * (person employed to help in the maintenance of a house)Derived terms
* cry for help * help desk * helpful * helpless * helpline * helply * helpmate * helpmeet * helpsome * home help * self-helpEtymology 2
From (etyl) helpen, from (etyl) . Cognate with (etyl) .Verb
Snakes and ladders, passage=Risk is everywhere.
citation, passage=As soon as Julia returned with a constable, Timothy, who was on the point of exhaustion, prepared to give over to him gratefully. The newcomer turned out to be a powerful youngster, fully trained and eager to help , and he stripped off his tunic at once.}}
A punch in the gut, passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
Usage notes
* Use 3 is often used in the imperative mood as a call for assistance. * In uses 1, 2 and 3, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . It can also take the bare infinitive with no change in meaning. * In use 4, can't help is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) or, with but, the bare infinitive. * For more information, seeSynonyms
* (provide assistance to) aid, assist, come to the aid of, help out * (contribute in some way to) contribute to * (provide assistance) assistDerived terms
* a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down * can't help * helper * helping * help oneself * help outhow
English
(wikipedia how)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), (m), (etyl) . /hw/ > /h/ due to in (etyl); compare (m), which underwent this change later, and thus is spelt ''wh ((etyl) spelling of /hw/) but pronounced /h/ (it previously had a different vowel, hence avoided the spelling and sound change in Old English). Vowel change per Great Vowel Shift. Akin to (etyl) (m) ((etyl) (m)), . See (m) and compare (m).Adverb
(-)Boundary problems, passage=Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too.
- How are you?
- How was your vacation?
Usage notes
* See usage notes on else. * How good is it?'' means "To what extent is it good?", whereas ''How is it good?'' means "In what manner is it good?". Likewise, ''I know how good it is'' means "I know the extent to which it is good", whereas ''I know how it is good means "I know the manner in which it is good".Derived terms
* how many * how much * how come * how so * know-howNoun
(en noun)- I am not interested in the why, but in the how .
- It is an a posteriori argument, evincing the fact, but not the how .
Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)- I remember how to solve this puzzle.
Don’t Call It ‘Pot’ in This Circle; It’s a Profession]”, in [[w:The New York Times, The New York Times], page A1:
- “There’s this real Al Capone fear that they’re going to get our guys, not on marijuana, but on something else,” Mr. Edson said, referring to how Capone was eventually charged with tax evasion rather than criminal activity.