怎麼樣grammar point · tier 1 · 怎麼樣 — how / what's it like (asking after state or manner)
Question word for state or manner. 怎麼樣 sits in the predicate slot where a description would go and asks how something is or how it went.
字源 FORM what the parts do
怎 carries the heart (心) that wonders, with 乍 lent for sound, ground down to zěn. 麼 is on loan, its sound worn to a light me. 樣 is borrowed for the look of a thing (樣子). The three ask after the state or manner of something — in what way, what's it like.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
Something is held up, and the wondering heart asks after the state of it: how does it stand?
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
[topic] 怎麼樣 ？ ／ [verb] 得 怎麼樣 ？
觸 · Trigger
You want a verdict on how something is or how it turned out, and need the slot the description will drop into.
序 · The move
1Build the topic first, then put 怎麼樣 where the description of its state belongs, at the end.If you swap 怎麼樣 for a description (很好、不錯), does a plain statement come out? Then the slot is right.
2Rating how an action went? Hinge it with 得: [verb] 得怎麼樣.Would the answer take 得 too (跑得很快)? Then the question takes 得怎麼樣.
3Asking the manner of doing a verb, not the overall state? Use 怎麼 before the verb (怎麼去), not 怎麼樣.Is the answer a way of acting, or a verdict on a state? Way → 怎麼 + verb; state → 怎麼樣.
怎麼樣 asks after a state or manner in the predicate slot; 什麼 asks for a thing in the noun slot. Swap by whether the answer is a description or a named thing.
怎麼樣 asks the overall state and sits as the predicate; 怎麼 + verb asks the manner of one action and sits before it. Swap by whether you want a verdict on a state or a way of acting.
✗ 怎麼樣今天天氣？ → ✓ 今天天氣怎麼樣？
✗ 你怎麼樣去？ → ✓ 你怎麼去？（manner of the verb takes 怎麼 before it）
✗ 你的工作是怎麼樣？ → ✓ 你的工作怎麼樣？（怎麼樣 is itself the predicate, no 是 needed）
English fronts "how" to the start of the question; Chinese leaves 怎麼樣 at the end, in the slot the description will fill.