How Old, How Far and How Often

The word "How", by itself means "how", but being combined with old, far or often, it could be translated as "to what extent". The translations of each of these expressions are:

• How old: how old / how old.
• How far: how far.
• How often: how often.

The minimum structure of the question with how old, how far and how often with the verb to be (ser or estar) is:

How (old / far / often) + verb to be conjugated + subject + ?

The question with other verbs is constructed like this:

How (old / far / often) + do / does + subject + verb + ?

Although these expressions are often used to ask questions, we can also find them in affirmative and negative sentences.

1. I don't know how old he is. (I don't know how old he is)
2. It depends on how far it is. (Depends on how far away it is.)
3. I’ll find out how often it rains in that town. (I'll find out how often it rains in that town.)

1. How old are you? (How old are you?)
2. How old is Susan? (How old is Susan?)
3. How old is that painting? (How old is that painting?)
4. How old was I when we left the city? (How old was I when we left town?)
5. How old was John when his brother was born? (How old was John when his brother was born?)
6. How old will I be when I graduate? (How old will I be when I graduate?)
7. How old do you have to be to drink alcohol? (How old do you have to be to drink alcohol?)
8. How old are your children? (How old are your children?)
9. How old was grandpa when the war started? (How old was Grandpa when the war started?)
10. How old is the city hall building? (How old is the municipality building?)
11. How old was him when he started swimming? (How old were you when you started swimming?)
12. How often do you exercise? (How often do you exercise?)
13. How often do you wash the car? (How often do you wash the car?)
14. How often do they see their grandmother? (How often do you see your grandmother?)
15. How often does an accident happen in this street? (How often does an accident happen on this street?)
16. How often does she go on vacation? (How often do you take vacations?)
17. How often does I practice the piano? (How often do you practice piano?)
18. How often do you call your sister? (How often do you call your sister?)
19. How often do you see each other? (How often do you meet?)
20. How often do you check your breaks? (How often do you check your brakes?)
21. How often does he fail a test? (How often do you fail an exam?)
22. How often does it break? (How often does it break?)
23. How often do you cough? (How often do you cough?)
24. How often does the power go out? (How often is the power cut off?)
25. How often do they admit they're wrong? (How often do they admit they are wrong?)
26. How often do you have to buy new light bulbs? (How often should you buy light bulbs?)
27. How often do you eat vegetables? (How often do you eat vegetables?)
28. How often do the children shower? (How often do children shower?)
29. How often does Emily go to the pharmacy? (How often does Emily go to the pharmacy?)
30. How often do they go out for dinner? (How often do you dine out?)
31. How far can you see? (How far can you see?)
32. How far is London? (How far is London?)
33. How far is New York from Los Angeles? (What is the distance between New York and Los Angeles?)
34. How far are we from home? (How far are we from home?)
35. How far do you live from your office? (How far from your office do you live?)
36. How far is the supermarket? (How far is the supermarket?)
37. How far did we go? (How far did we go?)

Andrea is a language teacher, and on her Instagram account she offers private lessons by video call so that you can learn to speak English.