What about you? How about you? And you?

Hey guys, I haven't written in awhile but last week I was teaching a student and he asked a good question:

What's the difference between  "What about you?" and "How about you?" ?

I had a hard time answering him at first as they're both kind of used like a mirror to shoot the question back at someone but after some thought I realized that they work slightly differently.

1- How about you?

A -----> B -----> A

2- What about you?

A -----> B -----> C

So with #1 it is generally going back to the person that asked you the question.

Helen : Do you have any kids?

Craig: No, I don't. How about you?

Helen: Me neither.

With #2 it may be used to go back to the questioner but is more often used to ask the question of SOMEONE ELSE, a third person in your group. To continue the previous conversation:

Helen: What about you Tom?

Tom: Actually, I have two kids: a boy & a girl.

We then briefly talked about the difference between those two  questions and "And you?".

Again this differs slightly in usage, this is usually used after a statement rather than after answering a question like #1 & #2.

Jerry: Oh wow, fresh strawberries! I love strawberries. And you?

Kelly: Strawberries are ok but I prefer raspberries.

Have a great Golden Week,

Phil