Question from English4Today member Khadija in Morocco
When can we use “how about” and when can we use “what about”?
Hi Khadija. This is another one of those situations, and we’ve discussed quite a few of them here, where you can use the two phrases interchangeably:
Both can be used to make suggestions.
- How about going to see a movie tonight?
- What about going to see a movie tonight?
Or, in the case of a non-suggestive question:
- Is Mike going with you? How about Pete?
- Is Mike going with you? What about Pete?
- Have you finished cleaning your room? How about your homework?
- Have you finished cleaning your room? What about your homework?
So, use either and the earth won’t open up and swallow you!
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what about is more with reminders and how about is more with opinions,,..
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I’d say there are some subtle differences between the two phrases. When it comes to suggesting an idea in the absence of any context, “How about…?” is somewhat better. (Eg, You call a friend, & after exchanging greetings, say “How about a movie tonight?”). “What about…?” tends to imply some context: I would never say “What about a movie?” unless we were already discussing what to do tonight.
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Yeah David, that makes more sense.
But yet it can be used after referring to, say, the movie you said.
Like people are deciding what to do and they suggest ideas; there I guess both can be used.