I would like to ask you about the usage of "how often".?

Question

Can you say
"How often have you been to New York?"
instead of
"How many times have you been to New York?" ?

Answer 1

Yes you can. Howerer, it implies that you expect an answer that would indicate the person does this on a repeated or habitual basis.

In other words, "how many" is the appropriate question if you think someone may have done something once or twice. But if you as "how often" you believe the person does something over and over....

For example, consider the difference in the implications of the questions: "How many times have you done drugs?' and "How often do you do drugs?"

Answer 2

You should use "how often" when you are looking for a general indication of frequency. Use "how many times" when you are looking for a number.

It is more usual to ask "how often" in the present tense. For example, "how often do you go to New York?" If you were to ask, "how often have you been to New York?" you might imply that the subject is no longer able to go to New York, although this implication is more profound if you were to ask, "how often did you go to New York?"

An expected answer to this question might be "every week," or "not very often." If the question had been, "how many times have you been to New York?" then the answer might be "three" or "about fifteen."

Answer 3

Yes you can. I was in New York 4 times last week, but I do not know how often I will have to go in next week. I hope it is not too many times.

Answer 4

Yes, although the meanings are somewhat different. "How often" means that you are asking someone whether they go frequently, infrequently, monthly, weekly, etc. "How many" just means the total number of times over a particular period of time. The one that is correct depends on the question you want to ask and the information you want to get.

Answer 5

Your use of "how often" in the first sentence sounds awkward to me. I perfer the straight forward question. Or "Are you a frequent visitor to New York?"

Answer 6

HOW OFTEN refers to frequency of an event.

HOW MANY TIMES refers to a specific quantity.

Answer 7

Yes!

Answer 8

Yes, both expressions mean the same thing.