Why is "how" used twice? Is it necessary to use both "how" in this sentence?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
This sentence is very odd, even to a native speaker. The sentence should be, "We have a great opportunity to learn how these belugas who have lived in a captive environment for most of their lives adapt to a more natural habitat." You definitely do not need to use "how" twice in a sentence. She may have been a little nervous being interviewed, may have stumbled on her words, may have decided to add something that she thought was important, etc. There may be several reasons why she used "how" twice. Many English speakers don't care about proper grammar or sometimes even correct sentence structure when speaking. We typically say what we want to at the moment.