"How to-" question structure

[j29682896]

Hi everyone

I am wondering if "How to-" strcture alone is an appropriate structure to form a question like "How to drive a car?" or it should be something like "How do we drive a car?" or "How can we drive a car?"

Should this structure only be used in part of a sentence, like "Can you teach me how to drive a car?" /"I know how to drive a car."?

Or "How to drive a car?" is acceptable in an informal conversation and should be avoided in formal writing?

Thank you.

 

[owlman5]

"How to drive a car?" or it should be something like "How do we drive a car" or "How can we drive a car?"

These are better in a question. How to drive a car? sounds odd and somewhat foreign to me. I wouldn't expect to hear that question from a native English speaker.

 

[j29682896]

Thank you for your prompt reply, owlman5.

 

[velisarius]

Should this structure only be used in part of a sentence, like "Can you teach me how to drive a car?"

Yes, as part of an interrogative sentence.

If you know how to drive a car and are writing about the subject, "How to drive a car" could be your title--or the heading to one segment of it.

 

[j29682896]

Thank you for your reply,velisarius.

 

[Einstein]

There are similar structures with other interrogative words:

I don't know what to do.
Please tell me where to go.
Find out when to leave.

They are not complete sentences but, as others have said, they can be used as titles, which are often ungrammatical.

 

[j29682896]

Thank you for the explanation, Einstein.