{"id":207,"date":"2014-07-07T13:44:22","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T03:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/?p=207"},"modified":"2017-03-04T13:01:27","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T02:01:27","slug":"the-difference-between-like-and-as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/journal\/notes\/the-difference-between-like-and-as\/","title":{"rendered":"The difference between like and as"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n TLDR:<\/strong> Both these words have multiple meanings, but basically… like<\/em> means ‘similar to something’ or ‘as though’. As<\/em> by itself is used to compare two things or as a conjunction.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apologies for my brief absence\u2014the World Cup tends to do that when you’re living on the side of the globe everyone forgets about!<\/p>\n

Like and as are sometimes confused as they often serve similar purposes in a sentence. For the sake of simplicity, I will omit the use of like<\/em> as a verb (to like something or to be liked) and a combining form (cat-like movements).<\/p>\n

like (preposition)\u2014having similar characteristics or traits to something else; used to express the nature of an action or thing; such as, for example<\/p>\n

\n I was sweating like a pig after the game.<\/em><\/p>\n

‘I’m sick of you acting like a child!’<\/em><\/p>\n

Why does Batman have to talk like that?<\/em><\/p>\n

I enjoy listening to artists like Devin Townsend and Trent Reznor.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

like (conjunction)\u2014in the same way that; as if, as though<\/p>\n

\n ‘I change my name like I do my socks now,’ he admitted.<\/em><\/p>\n

Josh felt like he’d been hit in the head with a frying pan.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

like (noun)\u2014used to express that a person or thing is similar to another<\/p>\n

\n Paula knew his like and the devious games they played.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, the scream! I’ve never heard the like<\/strong> before.<\/em><\/p>\n

We walked into the museum that was filled with paintings the likes of which<\/strong> I have never seen before.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

like (adjective)\u2014something having similar characteristics or traits to something else<\/p>\n

\n A gathering of like-minded people.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

like (adverb)\u2014an informal, meaningless filler in spoken conversation; an informal description of a person or thing’s actions<\/p>\n

\n It was, like, really big.<\/em><\/p>\n

He was crossing the road and was all like, ‘I’m walking here!’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you can see, like<\/em> has a wide variety of uses and I haven’t even mentioned them all!<\/p>\n

as (adverb)\u2014used to express a comparison; used to emphasise an amount of something<\/p>\n

\n ‘I’ll blow this whistle, then you run as fast as you can.’<\/em><\/p>\n

I wasn’t as impressed with Brazil’s quarter final game as I had expected to be.<\/em><\/p>\n

In an instant, as many as twenty soldiers surrounded them.<\/em><\/p>\n

‘I don’t think I could ever be as brave as you.’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

as (conjunction)\u2014expressing that something takes place during the time that another thing also takes place; to show a difference in how something is done; to add a comment or phrase relating to a fact; since, because; even though<\/p>\n

\n The clouds drift by as I sit and read.<\/em><\/p>\n

I picked ‘tails’ in the coin toss as per usual.<\/em><\/p>\n

As you can see, this longa-donga plant does pretty well.<\/em><\/p>\n

‘And here I must interrupt you, sir, as my car is waiting outside.’<\/em><\/p>\n

‘Yes, well, kind as your offer is, I must decline.’<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

as (preposition)\u2014used to express the function of something; during the time mentioned<\/p>\n

\n His death came as a shock to us all.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was rather sporty as a child.<\/em>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Both like<\/em> and as<\/em> have a long list of sayings and phrases attributed to them too, such as ‘like so’, ‘and the like’, ‘more like’, ‘as and when’, ‘as if’ and ‘as it were’.<\/p>\n

So, as you can see, while both like<\/em> and as<\/em> may share the same spot in a sentence, their meanings do not overlap and one should not be used as an alternative to the other.<\/p>\n

Like, happy writing and whatever. I’m going to, like, get an early night so I can, like, get up really early to watch the World Cup and, like, yeah. (Sorry!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like, you know, there’s a difference, like, between them and stuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":505,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions\/505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/carmelsealey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}