What do you call x How do you call: Como utilizar

Flavia.lm 1 10 100
Pessoal,

Recebi um e-mail com uma pergunta "What do you call (...)" e fiquei pensando... Por que "what" e não "how" ?...

Razão: a colocação correta é what; usar "how" é aportuguesamento.


"In the sentence "What is this called in English?" the speaker is looking for the name of something to be substituted for the pronoun what. The speaker needs a noun or noun construction to identify the thing that the word what refers to:

This is called a wrench.
This is called doing an about-face.
This is called a sweet deal.

In contrast, "How is it called in English?" does not make sense. How asks for information about the manner of doing something, or the degree or quantity of something, as in:

How is she managing since her husband died?
(Pretty well.)

How do you get there from here?
(Take the interstate highway all the way.)

How can I reach you?
(The best way is by e-mail.)

How long will it take?
(About an hour.)

It's understandable that interference from Spanish or Portuguese would cause confusion here. Sometimes students want to use the word how to ask the meaning; they use a literal translation from their native language. They can use how in the question:

How do you say that in English?

This asks for the way to say something. The questioner is not necessarily looking for the name of something, although he/she might be.

To simplify, you could explain that

"How do you say that?" asks for a word, a phrase, a sentence or a paraphrase. It is quite comprehensive.

"What do you call that?" asks for a noun or noun construction. It's very specific.

"How do you call that?" is incorrect.
"


Source: http://www.pearsonlongman.com/ae/azar/g ... /00040.htm

Fica aí a dica, espero que seja útil para vocês.

Flávia

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6 respostas
Ordenar por: Data
you live and learn... :D
ernando 2
I just read about it in a blog entry from an academic exchange institution, in that case, for Russian students. So, I came straight here to see whether someone had already written about it, and, as usual, I got surprised by the quantity and quality of the tips and information that are shared here in the Englishexperts website.

Very useful tip, I personally had never realised saying "how do you call it?" is logically incorrect. Thanks for sharing the tip Flávia. ;)
Juliana Rios 24 105 397
I believe you don't say "How do you call it?" for the same reason you don't say "How's she?" when asking about someone's personal characteristics.
Juliana Rios 24 105 397
I believe you don't say "How do you call it?" for the same reason you don't say "How's she?" when asking about someone's personal characteristics.
Nesses casos é "What" mesmo, eu por exemplo falava "How about you?" mas todos os americanos que eu falava, diziam "wbu?" que significa 'What about you?".
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Flavia.lm 1 10 100
Liooh escreveu:Nesses casos é "What" mesmo, eu por exemplo falava "How about you?" mas todos os americanos que eu falava, diziam "wbu?" que significa 'What about you?".

Liooh,

São coisas diferentes. Eu estava me referindo à colocação com "call"
What do you call --> correta
How do you call --> não existe, é aportuguesamento

As expressões How about you e What about you estão ambas corretas e foram discutidas no seguinte tópico
"And you?" x "How about you?" x "What about you?": Diferença