"how" in seven languages
Meaninghow
Spanish
cómo
/ˈkomo/
inherited
French
comment
/kɔmɑ̃/
inherited
Old French com + the adverb ending -ment; plain comme now means 'like, as'.
Italian
come
/ˈkome/
inherited
Portuguese
como
/ˈkomu/
inherited
Romanian
cum
/kum/
inherited
Catalan
com
/kɔm/
inherited
English
how
/haʊ/
Indo-European kin · PIE *kʷo- (question stem)
English → ItalianhowcomeDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: mode, mood (from MODUS).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
QUŌMODO‘in what way (QUŌ MODŌ)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spoken Latin squeezed QUŌMODO to *quomo. French then added -ment to the question form, keeping bare comme for 'like'.
English relatives: mode, mood (from MODUS)
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Cómo estás?
- frComment ça va ?
- itCome stai?
- ptComo você está?
- roCe mai faci?
- caCom estàs?
- enHow are you?