quomodo

Quomodo is a Latin adverb meaning “in what way” or “how.” It is used to inquire about the manner, method, or degree of an action and functions in both direct and indirect questions. In direct questions, it asks about the means by which something is accomplished: Quomodo fecisti? How did you do it? In indirect questions, it introduces subordinate clauses after verbs of knowing, doubting, or reporting: Nescio quomodo id factum est—I do not know how that happened.

The expression is sometimes written as quo modo in two words, especially in older texts, but quomodo is the standard spelling in modern Latin grammars and texts. Grammatically, quomodo is treated as a fixed interrogative adverb rather than a declined word; it remains uninflected while governing the corresponding verb tense and mood in the clause it introduces.

Usage spans classical authors such as Caesar and Cicero, as well as ecclesiastical Latin and later Latin prose. It can accompany a wide range of tenses and moods depending on whether the question is direct or indirect and on the temporal relation of the action described. Quomodo remains a basic tool for asking about method or manner in Latin, akin to the English “how.”