Timeline for The grammatical function of "How"

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May 8, 2015 at 20:48	comment	added	Mari-Lou A		EDIT: Hmm...Thank you for explaining. I need time to mull that over :) I'm not disputing that "how" is a question word, but I don't think it is in the OP's example even though it is answering an implied question. And in my example: "I loved how you...." is only a simple statement, disconnected to any question.
May 8, 2015 at 18:09	comment	added	Greg Lee		Well, @Mari-LouA, yes, "how" is used as an adverb. But the question word "how" is also used as an adverb in direct questions, so the fact that "how" is an adverb doesn't show that it's not a question word.
May 8, 2015 at 17:59	comment	added	Mari-Lou A		In the OP's example I can understand that how answers the question: "How do you do it?". But in my example, there is no question implied. How expresses the way someone does an action. It's used as an adverb, isn't it?
May 8, 2015 at 17:50	comment	added	Greg Lee		@Mari-LouA, yes. Although most wh-words have corresponding functions as relative pronouns and question words, "how" does not. "How" is not a relative pronoun -- *"I loved the way how you answered that question."
May 8, 2015 at 17:40	comment	added	Mari-Lou A		"I loved how you answered that question" Would ‘how’ still be considered a question word in that phrase?
May 8, 2015 at 17:16	history	answered	Greg Lee	CC BY-SA 3.0