English Grammar - like, would like, be like

Hey, guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking and welcome to this lesson on "like," "would like,"

and "be like." So the word "like" is used in a variety of ways, many different ways

in English, and we're going to look at three of those ways, the most common ways, today.

So I have three sentences, three questions, and three responses on the board. The first

question says, "What type of food do you like?" Now, here, if your response is, "I like sushi,"

you're not saying, "I would like sushi." You're not saying, "My sushi is like," which doesn't

make grammatical sense, by the way. If you say, "I like sushi," for the type of food

in general that you like, and you respond with this, you're stating a general preference.

So when we say, "I like something," or, "She likes something," "We like something," this

is a general preference, something you like in general, normally, usually.

Here we have "would like." So this situation is in a restaurant, for example, and your

waiter or your waitress asks you, "What would you like?" Not, "What do you like?" Not, "What

are you like?" But, "What would you like?" And you respond with, "I would like grilled

salmon." "Would like" expresses a preference in the moment, now. You want this now.

So, anytime you go to a restaurant and you don't say, "I like grilled salmon," unless

you want them to know, just in general, this is what you like, you're saying, "Now, you

want grilled salmon." You would say, "I would like, in this moment, grilled salmon." So

this is a preference in the moment. So, in the present, at the moment of speaking, "I

would like this now." So, right now, this room is very hot. I would like some air conditioning.

So the third use of "like" is "be like." So, here we have a question like, "What is" -- be

a verb -- "What is your city like?" This is a question about the character of your city,

about the quality of your city. So, your answer could be something like, "My city is very

cosmopolitan." So, if you ask a question with "like" at the end of the question, like, for

example, "What is that book like?" If your friend is reading a book and you want more

information about the book, you want a description of it, you want to know about the qualities

of it, "What is that book like?" or "What's that movie like?" You're asking about the

character or the quality of it. So, "My city is very cosmopolitan" is a description, right?

So here, we use "be like" in question forms to talk about description or the character

or quality of something. And this "like," we generally use it in question form. I would

not say, "My city is very like cosmopolitan." I would just say, "My city is very cosmopolitan."

The "like" happens in the question part, okay?

So, just as a quick review, if you say, "I like sushi," you're expressing a general preference,

right? So, you can say, "I like Harry Potter books," or "I like the Lord of the Rings movies,"

or "I like photography," for example. Okay, just a general preference that you like, okay?

Now, "What would you like?" "What would you like" means, "What do you want now at the

moment?" So, you can say, "Right now, I would like to travel to Paris," for example. You

can express this as something you want to do, okay?

And "What is your city like?" Right? "What is something like" -- you're asking, "What

is the character of this place like," or "this thing like?" So, if I ask, "What are the Twilight

books like?" That's up to you, right? It depends on the person who is listening to this, and

I don't want to offend anyone, so I will not give my opinion.

Okay, guys. To test your understanding of "like," "would like," and "be like," especially

asking questions because "do you like," "would you like," and "is your city like" are very,

very different. So, to test your understanding of this question construction and of sentence

construction, check out the quiz on www.engvid.com. Take care, guys.