What Part of Speech is "How"?

To determine the part of speech of "how",we have to know the types of parts of speech.There are eight types of parts of speech.These are noun,pronoun,verb,adverb,preposition, conjunction and interjection.Remember that determiners are a special type of adjective.

To find out the part of speech of "how",we need to remember that a single word in different sentences can functions as different parts of speech.

Now analyse the following example:

●The united states is very big.

●How big is the united states?

Explanation:

●Adverb +adjective +Noun=Noun Phrase

In the above sentence, the part of speech of "big" is an adjective. We know that an adverb can modify an adjective.So,Here "How" is an adverb because it is modifying the adjective "big".

Now consider the following example:
●He can help you with something.

●How can he help you?

Explanation:Here"how" has been used as an adverb.Remember that an adverb can modify a verb.Here "How"is modifying the verb "help".So, the part of speech of "how"here is an adverb.