How to Use how can/could in a Sentence

how can/could

idiom
Definition of how can/couldnext
  • And how could Israel’s goal be achieved when the idea of Hamas is gaining more support each day of the war?
    — David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 30 Oct. 2023
  • So how can paying it each month help fund some of my travels?
    — Chris Dong, Travel + Leisure, 6 July 2023
  • What do these fees mean for the industry, and how can travelers avoid them?
    — Jessica Puckett, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Apr. 2024
  • Regional Mexican has had such a big moment, so how can the genre not win song of the year?
    — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 13 Nov. 2023
  • But what causes the illness and how can it be prevented?
    — Lizzy Rosenberg, Peoplemag, 30 Oct. 2023
  • So how can these moons, orbiting so far beyond the sun’s warmth, still have oceans today?
    — WIRED, 24 Dec. 2023
  • And how can Darby save her?There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out.
    — Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 27 Dec. 2023
  • But how can watching folks roll dice and making up a story out of thin air be so engaging?
    — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 22 Jan. 2024
  • So how can the filmmakers pretend that all of this adds up to something audiences might care about?
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 14 Feb. 2024
  • So how can candidates trust the AI being used in their job interviews?
    — Gabriela Riccardi, Quartz, 3 July 2023
  • So how can someone figure out which rituals will work for them?
    — Grace McCarty, SELF, 11 Apr. 2024
  • But how could the U.S. make the leap to Italian-level sophistication?
    — D. T. Max, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024
  • With such a violent and horrific initial act, how could the stakes possibly get raised from there?
    — Evan Romano, Men's Health, 5 July 2023
  • But, again, how can the Canary Islands develop its own film industry?
    — John Hopewell, Variety, 8 Mar. 2024
  • And how can other governments nudge the world’s largest emitter toward an earlier peak?
    — Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 11 Dec. 2023
  • But with millions of Americans out of work, how could Chicago attract enough visitors to ensure the fair’s success?
    — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 6 July 2023
  • Simca comes off pretty prickly — how can viewers understand what makes her that way?
    — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 21 Dec. 2023
  • But how can anyone find anything controversial about this song?
    — Jill Mapes, Pitchfork, 20 Nov. 2023
  • But his older brother, Steve, had his doubts -- how could his brother, a brilliant PhD student with a bright future in mathematics, take his own life?
    — Allie Weintraub, ABC News, 5 Sep. 2023
  • So, how can CFOs take a leadership role in their company’s low-carbon transition?
    — Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 26 Sep. 2023
  • And while these large rodents have long been known to be sources of food and furs to humans, a new study asks: how could beavers’ role as landscape shapers actually shape their relationship with humans?
    — Paige Madison, Discover Magazine, 18 Dec. 2023
  • So how can Bostonians cool off this summer without going over budget?
    — Brynn O’Connor, BostonGlobe.com, 18 July 2023
  • But how could the facility not know 8-year-old Sully was actually a female?
    — Dave Alsup, CNN, 21 July 2023
  • If people making the music treat it as disposable and nothing more than a stepping stone to other things, how can listeners value it?
    — Spin Staff, Spin, 12 Sep. 2023
  • Still, how could Wnt signaling, when turned on in an adult, avoid activating the embryonic program?
    — Quanta Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
  • But given her history of thousands of looks spanning seven decades, how could anyone possibly capture Barbie in all of her glory in a two-hour film?
    — India Roby, Harper's BAZAAR, 21 July 2023
  • Online, people wanted to know: how could this really be just a coincidence?
    — Brock Colyar, Curbed, 25 Aug. 2023
  • But how could anyone possibly replicate the ultra-rich, delicate flavor of duck liver?
    — Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 29 Jan. 2024
  • Especially in the midst of a soaring maternal mortality crisis in this country, how can anyone blame you for wanting to only have one child?
    — Elaine Welteroth, Washington Post, 19 Dec. 2023
  • If music has the ability to set a dancer free, how can a dancer instilled with innate musicality translate those sensations to other bodies, to other minds?
    — Gia Kourlas, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'how can/could.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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