As & Like | Prepositions & Conjunctions | English Lesson

[Music] Hello everyone! Welcome to this session,  where I'm going to answer a question sent in by  

Elke. Elke has asked how to use 'as' and 'like'  correctly. It's a very good question because they  

often get confused with each other. So, let's have  a look at my first slide here, starting with 'as'.  

Use 'as' for sameness, for example when you use  the word same: She has the same surname as you  

(not like: same as). Or 'as ... as' to say two  things are exactly the same: He is as stubborn  

as me. Now, here you notice that 'as', sorry,  'stubborn' is an adjective, so the two words  

'as' and 'as' go immediately before and after: as  stubborn as me. But, we can also compare and show  

the sameness of two quantities, so in that case,  be careful that we need to add the words 'much'  

and 'many'. So, if your word is uncountable, like  'time', we need 'as much as', and if your word  

is countable, like 'hobbies', it's 'as many  as'. So, the two sentences for example are:  

She doesn't have as much time as me. And: I don't  have as many hobbies as you. So, that's the most  

common use of 'as' for sameness: 'same as', as ...  as'. Okay, let's look at 'like'. 'like' is used  

more for similarity, so the difference: sameness  and similarity. For example: Stop behaving like  

a 2-year-old. 'like a 2-year-old': not exactly  the same but similar. Or: This picture doesn't  

look like you. You're sounding like my mum. Not  exactly like my mom, but like my mom: similar. Or:  

Like you, similar to you, she adores children. So,  I think that's very easy to distinguish. But then  

there comes, there come situations, examples,  where both may work. Excuse me! Let's look  

at those. For example, for giving examples, you  can use 'like' and 'such as'. Now, that's really  

important to remember not to use only 'as'. It's  'such as'. So, let's say for example our sentence  

is: Try to avoid, try to avoid carbs, like rice  or pasta, for example rice or pasta. Now, you can  

use 'as' only if you put 'such' in there: Try to  avoid carbs, such as rice or pasta. And 'such as'  

is more formal than 'like'. But avoid the mistake  of using only 'as'. Don't say: Try to avoid carbs,  

as rice and past. So, that's an important one to  remember. I do come across this mistake a lot.  

Next point is this expression, this question. We  use the word 'like' very often in questions like:  

what like? What is it like? What was it like?  What is he like? And when you ask, when you hear  

this question, the person is asking you to give  them a description of something. For example, if  

someone says: What's the weather like? your answer  would be to describe the type of weather you have:  

It's cold and wet. And that's accurate in England,  usually. That's the very common answer: It's  

cold and wet. Now, the common mistake to avoid  everyone is to say 'how' because you could say:  

How is the weather? It's not a very common way of  asking, but you can also say: How is the weather?  

without 'like', and again the answer would be:  It's cold and wet. But, the common mistake I  

hear is to mix the two expressions and say: How  is the weather like? Avoid that! It's: How is the  

weather? or more common: What is the weather like?  Describe the weather to me. Points to remember: If  

we are using this question to ask about people, if  you just use like, like: What's John like? you're  

asking for a description of his character, of his  personality. So, you would say: He's really kind.  

He's really patient. He's very helpful. If you  want the person to describe physical attributes,  

then you have to use the word 'look like'. So,  then it can be: Who does John look like? or What  

does John look like? If it's: Who does John  look like? He looks like his dad, or his mum,  

or his uncle. If it's: What does John look like?  then, you would describe his physical attributes,  

for example: He is tall and thin. All right!  So, that's only for the word 'like', but really  

important to understand its usage in this kind of  question. So, next point is the situations where  

you should only use 'as', not 'like', and these  are the things that you just have to remember.  

There's no logic, for example when you talk about  someone's profession, it's always 'as': She works  

as an engineer. Or similar to that: Don't use your  age as an excuse. Then, we have the expressions  

'as if' and 'as though'. Also very common: He  looks as if or as though he's been crying. And  

other expressions where 'as' is the word we use,  not 'like' are: 'as you know': As you know, we're  

expanding into Europe. 'as expected': As expected,  the inflation rate has risen. Now having said  

that, of course English being English, there are  always exceptions. So, there are two exceptions  

here where you can use 'like', but you will sound  a lot more informal. So, let's look at them. In  

the previous slide we had 'as I said earlier', 'as  I was saying earlier', one of those, or it 'looks  

as if' or 'looks as though'. I would suggest that  you keep, I would recommend that you use 'as' and  

'as if' and 'as though' in these situations. But,  you will hear in informal English, particularly  

American English, things like: 'like I said  earlier', 'like I was saying', 'it looks like:  

It looks like it's going to snow, for example.  So, just bear in mind that in informal English,  

sometimes they use 'like' where they shouldn't.  I would stick to the previous slide with the  

expressions I said use 'as', not 'like'. But,  it's important that you're aware. So lastly,  

we can use 'as' to link two phrases, as a linking  word, a conjunction. You know that there are  

two possibilities. 'as' can replace because,  for example instead of 'Because I was tired,  

I went to bed early.' 'As I was tired, I went to  bed early.' And sometimes, 'as' replaces 'while',  

so it becomes a time expression. For example:  As I was leaving, the phone rang. Now again,  

a very common mistake to be careful with is that  'as' means 'while', and it doesn't really mean  

'when' in that sense. So, for example, you cannot  say: 'as I was a child'. Again, it's a very common  

mistake I hear particularly from Germanic language  speakers. You can't say 'as I was a child' because  

it's not an action in progress. 'as' has that  sense of 'while an action was in progress',  

not 'when'. So, you have to say: When I was a  child, I lived in a small village. Alright? Or,  

you can say 'as a child', that's then 'when  I was the same as a child', but 'not as I was  

a child'. And the last one: When an action is  like it was not in progress: When she finished,  

we all started clapping. Not: As she finished.  So, I'll that slide a little bit on for you to see  

when you cannot use, I would take notes, when you  cannot use 'as' in linking situations. Right okay,  

that brings us to the end of the presentation. I  hope it's clarified a little bit, given you some  

pointers, as to the difference of when to use 'as'  and when to use 'like'. I hope you've enjoyed this  

lesson. For more on this topic, click here.  Remember to also check out my complete online  

course, and don't forget to like and subscribe.  Thank you for watching and happy studies!