I am a teacher.
Yes, I work AS an English teacher.
I teach “like” and “as” every day, so you can imagine how aggrieved I get when I hear
“my sister works like a secretary” or “my Dad used to work like a mechanic”.
I’m not going to mince my words: I cry!
I gnash my teeth!
I stamp my feet!
And finally, I turn on my computer, open Word and write a new blog entry, to try to explain it better.
So, here it is.
Like V As
Just.
For.
You.
LIKE
similar to…
When something is similar to something else, we use the word like. Thus, like is used before nouns.
So, if you like citrus fruits, you might say:
“Mandarins are like satsumas.”
If you are familiar with Great Britain and neighbouring island, Ireland, you might say:
“Scottish whiskey is like Irish whiskey”
Pretty clear, right?
We can use it with people too.
“My sister acts like my Mum.”
And we can used it to compare appearances:
“Their new car looks like their old car.”
In the same way as + noun or person…
We use like to describe an action being done similarly by two different people or things.
So, if I say “I sing like Lady Gaga.”, then I think that I sing in a way that is similar to Lady Gaga’s.
If I say “You walk like a duck.” I’m saying that when I see you, the way you walk reminds me of a duck. It’s not a very nice thing to say, but it’s true.
YOU WALK LIKE A DUCK. Sorry, but you do!
Okay, so that’s it.
We are finished with like.
It’s time to focus on as.
To summarise, like is used to compare two things or appearances or behaviours.
AS
Similar to / in the same way as + person / thing + verb
We can also use as to describe an action being done similarly by two different people or things. However, in this case, the person or thing is followed by a verb. So, we return to our examples from above:
“I sing as Lady Gaga does.” You could also use an alternative verb with Lady Gaga… “I sing as Lady Gaga sings”. Using the same verb in English sounds a little … clumsy or clunky, so we prefer to replace it the second time with the auxiliary verb do.
Oh, just in case you want to know if we can use it to describe how ducks walk, well yes. We can. And we do.
“You walk as a duck does.”
“You walk as a duck walks.”
Honestly, (and I’m just giving you my personal preference), while using as + person / noun + verb is perfectly acceptable and correct, to my ears, it just sounds a bit extra. In these kinds of comparisons, in my humble opinion, like + person / noun sounds better.
As + adjective + as
We’ll all heard this structure which is used to show that the quantity of a quality that an item possesses is the same as the quantity of the same quality that another item possesses. That is a lot of “s” in one sentence. Especially, if you have a lisp.
Let’s imagine that you are describing how tall you are compared to your brother. If you are the same height as your brother, you’ll say:
“I’m as tall as my brother.”
If you and your brother enjoy beer and perhaps drink too much and don’t take enough exercise, you might also say:
“I’m as fat as my brother”.
In the function / role of
When describing a city, or a sport or even a person we use as. Rather than going around in circles, explaining it, it might be easier just to give some clear-cut examples.
As a city, Beijing is enormous.
As a sport, Formula 1 is quite dangerous.
As a dish, paella is quite easy to prepare.
You can probably imagine a parent saying the following sentence:
As your father, I forbid you to go to that party.
As your mother, I’m begging you to reconsider your decision.
Jobs, roles, professions
When we are talking about jobs, we use as. That’s all you need to know.
So, I work as a teacher.
Some would say as a content creator.
If I wanted to know what your job or profession was, I might ask “What do you work AS?”
The big question is what does Donald Trump think he works as?
During the time in which / while
We are never going to use “during the time in which” in a real-life sentence.
Well, we can TRY, but honestly, whoever is listening to us is going to be absolutely lost or bored out of their mind or both. While, is a totally different matter. However, as is shorter and more commonly used. Let’s see just HOW we use it.
As he approached me, I realised who he was.
As the sun was setting, we drank wine and recalled funny stories from our childhood.
As we waited for the bus, she told me all the news.
Like or "such as" for giving examples
Occasionally, the lines are blurred.
We can use both like AND as when we are giving examples. Having said that, as needs to be preceded by the word such…
I’m a big fan of French wines, like Romanée Conti, Pétrus and Chateau Margaux.
I’m a big fan of French wines, such as Romanée Conti, Pétrus and Chateau Margaux.
Speaking of wine.
It's wine o’clock in my house. That means it´s time for a glass of wine!
I hope this article will help to clear up some of your doubts about when to use like and as.
Stay tuned because very soon I will be publishing a follow-up to this article with some exercises to test your knowledge of like and as.
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And keep working on your English.
It’s like a puppy. It’s for life, not just for Christmas (or now)!!!!
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