Is "how does it look like?" correct English?

Incorrect.

You would either say “What does it look like?” or “How does it look?”; the way you are quoting it is incorrect usage.

See! @janbb made me look smart by saying more words.

@mowens :-)

I always start by looking for a top hat and monocle.

Definitely incorrect.

“What does it look like?”.Here,you don’t have an idea about the shape,size or the form of the thing you are asking about.Putting it in another way,you have no clue about it’s appearance and don’t have anything to refer either.

“How does it look like?”.Here,you are trying to compare it with something.Whether it looks like an elephant,cow, a dog or a pig.

Note: I’ve given the sense in which people use it.Grammatically,“How does it look like?”,is not acceptable though.

(Remember, also, the difference between its and it’s, which still continues to mean “It is.”)

And “How does it look like?” is completely incorrect and, I am sorry to say, has nothing to do with whether a deck chair or spruce tree looks like an animal.

“How does he look?” would be a question about health. He looks pale, sallow, wan, love-sick, sleepy, depressed. No one would ever answer, “Like an elephant or a pig.”

@ChazMaz: Eustace Tilley always looks the same – ageless.

“How does he look?” is a different question as a whole compared to “How does it look like?”
“How does it look like?” is grammtically incorrect,but people take it the way being explained above.People generally don’t focus that much on grammar while they speak as compared to while they write.It’s not always poor education that results in delivery of such form of speech.Most of the time it’s being casual and adhering to local slangs while speaking which gives rise to such forms of speech.The texting revolution has butchered the form of speech to a noticable amount, but all’s well if you are able to convey the message and get the desired result.
On contrary to that,you have to take into consideration the place you are in.Among the friend circle where people hit the height of casual talk things might be different,but that would work adversely in a Job interview for the post of a teacher in English language.
The way you speak has to differ with the time and place you are in,but being formal everytime might be the safest route to follow.

I would like to know where you saw such a thing.

@engineeristerminatorisWOLV I’m not saying people should focus on grammar more when speaking, was just wondering whether it might not actually be correct if it’s used that often. It’s not only speech that I see it in though (in fact, it’s mostly written, but then again, written text on the internet is often just like speech in this aspect).

@Trillian Where I saw it today (i.e. the usage that prompted me to ask this question) was on a slide for a lecture by one of my professors. I see it a lot though (ah, I should’ve Googled this question first…).

Thanks for the answers everybody.

I can easily see someone who is not fluent in English saying this. The examples from your Google link seem to mostly be that or the beginning of comparisons, which would be correct.

@Vincentt maybe it’s a regional thing. I moved to KY a few years ago. I noticed a few things that stand out grammatically. One of them is “I don’t care to do it.” What they mean when they say this is “I don’t mind doing it.” Actually it’s the opposite of what they’re saying.
So, maybe just in your area, you know? People hear other people saying things and decide they like how it sounds, so they adopt it.

The answer to the question “How does it look?” is an adjective.

The “like” in “What does it look like?” is a preposition which takes a noun phrase as its object.

@Vincentt A professor? Seriously? In what subject and at what level?

I can think of different situations for each usage. I would agree with @

“I just painted the kitchen for you. How does it look?”

or

“I’ll help you find the box. What does it look like?”

A possible use for the other phrase:

“Do you think that cloud looks like a pig? I don’t. Please show me, how does it look like a pig?”

@all Vincentt is a non-native speaker of English, I believe, and lives in the Netherlands.

@Yetanotheruser Well, yes, that would be appropriate.

If someone said to me, “How does it look like?”
I would say, “How does it look like what?”

@engineeristerminatorisWOLV your answers were nonsensical.

“What does it look like?” can be answered either descriptively, “It looks pink, fleshy and fat,”
or comparatively, “It looks like a pig.”

“How does it look?” is answered with an adjective,
like ‘fabulous’, as in, “It looks fabulous, darling.”

“How does it look like?” cannot be answered, because ‘how?’ means ‘in what way?’, and ‘like’ isn’t an adjective, so it is impossible to describe in what way something looks ‘like’.

Things do not simply look ‘like’, so there’s no chance of explaining how.

@The_Idler :I have answered keeping in mind the questioner’s point of view not the answerer’s.I have projected the sense in which people usually question and in what state of mind they are while questioning.Your answer is from the answerer’s perspective so,the argument is moving in rather perpendicular direction than being parallel.I won’t say it moves in opposite direction as we both are correct from the side we are seeing things.

@engineeristerminatorisWOLV ah sorry, so you were explaining the intent of the questioner.

so which are you saying that they intend to ask?
1. Describe its appearance. (“What does it look like?” “The dress is red and ruthlessly modern.”)
2. What is it similar in appearance to? (“What does it look like?” “The dress looks like a Ferrari.”)
3. Describe the quality of its appearance. (“How does it look?” “The dress looks wonderful on you.”)

I have no experience of this question, and it would make no sense to me. Who exactly speaks like this?

I am sure I would understand the intent, given some context, but if I said, “I just got some new shoes,” and someone asked me, “How do they look like?” I wouldn’t know whether they wanted a description, a comparison, or a qualitative assessment…

…which is why no-one should ever say it.

I have come across quite a few examples of that “How does it look like?”.
It never made any sense to me either, but I’ve known some people of an old farmland use it the way, “What does it look like?” being used.Believe me,they are all native english speakers,but I don’t know why they have adopted this style of speaking.Not only that one,I’ve seen people use it in other areas too.To me that extra “like” in the question never made a sense, but what I intended to say is, people do use it the way I have explained in my answer.
If you go and tell them,“I saw a strange creature somewhere in the woods”, you’d be questioned,“How does it look like?”.They would expect you to compare it’s features with that of another animal.Does that makes any sense?

It isn’t the “like” that doesn’t make sense.
it’s the “how” that doesn’t make sense, if what you say about the intended meaning is correct.

asking, “How did it look?” about a forest animal, would get the answer “Pretty pissed-off.”
asking, “What did it look like?” about a forest animal, would get the answer, “like a bear with the face of an ape.”

There you dropped the “like” and that’s why that “How” made a sense.Imagine someone asking,
“How did it look like?”.I won’t be able to deliver an answer unless,I take it in the sense of,“What did it look like?”.I would simply say that it’s a local variant and region specific where people see things their way or might have redefined the language the way they wanted.

.
Have you heard of examples like using two negetives in one statement and still meaning it in a negetive way?

I have seen people speaking, “I am not afraid of nobody”.By that they mean,“I am afraid of nobody” or ” I’m afraid not afraid of anybody”.

You say in your last post that the extra “like” never made sense to you.

You then proceed to say that the question means “What does it look like?”

I was pointing out that the “like” does make sense, if you take the question to have the meaning that you say, and that the “how” is the nonsensical part, in relation to the true intent of the question, that is, according to you.

I should have been a bit more specific rather than assuming that everything I say, is being understood in a way I intend it to.
I have no problem with that “like” in the question, “What does it look like?”.
However, in case of “How does it look like?”,that extra “like” at the end makes it nonsensical.

That’s what I mean to say and when people put forth the question, “How did it look like?”, in the scenario as discussed above(Strange animal), I’m bound to take it as, “What did it look like?”.

EDIT: I was going to explain again (at length) how you contradicted yourself, but nevermind.

ok, so:
you think the “like” in “How does it look like?” doesn’t make sense
AND
you assume it actually means “What does it look like?”

ok, sure, that’s fine. ill take it, that it means “What does it look like?” and ignore any other contradictory statements.

Edit:Finally, you got my point and I can prove that there was no contradiction,but the same thing said in different ways.I applaude all your effort dedicated towards proving your point.

I didn’t have a point, I was asking a question.

@Trillian Well, the region would be the internet, since English is not the native language here, but of course, it might very well be that only people of certain regions use it on the internet (or perhaps people of other regions pick it up through the internet).

@Snarp As @janbb correctly pointed out, I’m from the Netherlands, Dutch is the professor’s native language and, as far as I know, so is it of everybody in the audience, so it’s not really an objection. Furthermore, I don’t think I should be calling him a professor officially, but I don’t know the correct English term for whatever it is that he is.

“How does it look like?” may be ‘acceptable’ in a local dialect, but for a speaker of International English, it is very very wrong.

just taking the time now to say i am constantly in awe of the Dutch Mastery of the English language, scuse the pun

@Vincentt Ah, now that I know it was not a native English speaker I’m not quite so astounded that a teacher would use this. This thread certainly should have covered the grammar and why it’s not proper English for you pretty well.

@Snarp: Vincentt’s command of proper English is astonishing. Compared to much of what I see here (and elsewhere) he is a master. He uses the proper homonyms, apostrophes, and other punctuation correctly. He knows what a sentence, a run-on sentence, and a sentence fragment is; he can differentiate between a common and proper noun (son vs. Amsterdam); his vocabulary is large and accurate, his awareness of syntax is spot-on, and he can make bilingual puns without broadcasting them.

@Vincentt: Perhaps your speaker was a lecturer rather than a professor? Beware that some of the answers here are confusing, misleading and occasionally incorrect.

@gailcalled According to Wikipedia when used in the UK lecturer means “those who teach at a university”, which he does so I suppose that would be correct. It also says that in German the term would be Dozent, which looks like the Dutch term docent which is indeed a general term used to describe those who teach (though not specifically at a university).

Of course I got curious while writing this so I checked his LinkedIn and personal homepage, where he indeed describes himself as lecturer (accompanied by photographs taken when he was way younger). It also seems he is allowed to use the titles dr. ir.

Anyway, thanks for the answers everybody, and for the kind words on my use of English though of course, I’ve just been lucky to have enjoyed good education and to live in a country where English is not the main language yet present in a lot of places, making it much easier to pick up while growing up.

@Vincentt Glad to be of service. I concur with @gailcalled about your English language skills. It’s better than a lot of native speakers I’ve heard world-wild. I’m not sure about the Dutch language or any other, but there are a lot of regionalisms that are technically incorrect, but are acceptable simply due to longevity.

i like it…if some one says that looks like a fish ..and i did`nt think so…id say ..how does it look like ..a fish ?