The verb form of the word "like" has become inextricably tied to a little social media outlet called Facebook.
You might like a photo of an adorable baby; you might enjoy a link to a beautiful song; you might envy a gorgeous plate of sushi. So you click the "like" button, and much of the world as you know it can see that you like it.
That's a simple use of the word "like."
More difficult to explain is the use of "like" as a preposition. "Like," as do all prepositions, signals that what comes after it is related to what came before it.
In broad terms, you use like when no verb is in the next part of the sentence.
The 'tweens screamed like banshees.
I feel like a new person.
This feels like home to me.
But when a verb does follow, you should use "as if" or "as though."
I felt as if I had been in this room before.
The cake tasted as if she had poured in a fifth of bourbon.
Her voice sounded as if she had swallowed a frog.
Wrong: You look like you're smitten.
Right: You look as though you're smitten.
The like-versus-as-if-debate makes blood boil. It's simply a grammar issue that evokes strong feelings. Some people think that using "like" where "as if" should go reflects terrible breeding.
A popular ad in the '50s and '60s read, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." Grammarians groaned, saying it should be "Winston tastes good as a cigarette should."
In the days when newscasters voiced commercials, Walter Cronkite refused to use the "like" in the Winston ad, and an announcer had to be hired to say it, instead.
In The Careful Writer, Theodore M. Bernstein acknowledges that history and logic would allow "like" to go where many say only "as if" should tread. Writing in 1965, he also said that popular usage would cause the rule to crumble.
Today, people who know grammar may slip "like" into casual conversation, but they likely use "as if" in formal writing. Others stand resolute in all cases.
Few issues elicit such rage, but others include inserting an apostrophe where it doesn't belong, ending a sentence with a preposition, writing in the passive voice and splitting infinitives. (Good, I have more topics about which to write.)
Another confusing usage matter involves "like" versus "such as."
The first indicates similarity; the latter shows inclusion.
I spend my time on hobbies such as making cards, writing and eating chocolate.
That shows that my hobbies include those three.
Writing it in another way may change the meaning.
I spend my time on hobbies like making cards, writing and eating chocolate.
That indicates that your hobbies are similar to card-making but don't include card-making. So think for a minute about what you're trying to say before choosing between "like" and "such as."
Sources: Grammar Girl, grammarerrors.com, BBC, grammarbook.com, The Careful Writer, Fowler's Modern English Usage, YouTube.com
Reach Bernadette at
bkwordmonger@gmail.com
ActiveStyle on 10/02/2017