"What does she look like?" vs. "How does she look like?"

Question

I have heard "What does she look like" said a lot and sometimes "How does she look like?".
Is there any difference between them, if yes What is the difference between them?

Answer 1

You can get your answer from here:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2059535.
These are very different questions. Let me show you in pairs.

What does she look like? = describe her physical appearance, generally. How does she look? = describe her physical appearance, right now. For example, "She looks beautiful today, with her hair done up."

Disclaimer-:(answer adopted from source)

Answer 2

Just based on native instinct, both questions mean roughly the same thing, but ...

"What does she look like?"

Since it's a "what" question, I think this phrasing suggests that the answer should be a noun:

• she looks like a cat
• she looks like an 80's pop star

etc.

"How does she look?"

(Note the question sounds more natural without "like".)

Since it's a "how" question, I think this question fits better if the expected answer is a descriptive adjective:

• she looks great
• she looks terrible

etc.

But they are somewhat interchangeable. The second form of the question is more common. The first form of the question registers some surprise, suggesting that someone looks a bit strange.

Answer 3

"What" is pointing to an objective description (colors, kind of clothes etc.).

"How" is pointing to an subjective description that involves perception, opinion (pretty, beautiful etc.).

Answer 4

How does she look like? sounds like a direct translation from the German Wie sieht sie aus? because wie means how in English. I hear Germans make this mistake all the time.

So, the translation is logical, but we ask the question with what in English.