LIKE, LOOKS LIKE, LIKE TO…All Explained! - Learn English Grammar

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Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha.

Today, I'm going to talk about the difference between “like,” “looks like” and “like to” with questions.

These are some questions that often cause some confusion in terms of the meaning of

the question and how to answer these questions.

Let's take a look at a few examples of how these questions are used, and then, I'll talk

about a few ways that you can answer these questions as well.

Okay.

Let's start with the first question I want to talk about.

The first question uses the verb, “like.”

So, for example, “What is he or she like?” or “What is it like?”

So, this is a question that we use to ask about personalities and characteristics.

So, “What's he like?”

“What's she like?”

“What is it like?”

This is a question about the features.

So, when we answer this question, we'll give some information about a person's character

or maybe the functions of a product, for example.

So, “What's it like?” or “What is he or she like?”

This is a question about personality or features or characteristics of something.

So, let's take a look at a few examples of how we could answer this question.

For example, if the question is, “What's he like?”

We could say, “He's…”

He is.

“He's really funny and friendly.”

This is a is a statement about his personality.

“He's funny and friendly,” here, his personality.

If the question is, “What's she like?”

however, we can say, “She's hardworking but a little disorganized,” for example.

So, again, a personality question gets a personality-related answer.

Finally, then, if the question is, “What's it like?” where “it” can be replaced

with a different noun. in this case, a class in my answer.

“What's the class like?” or “What's it like?”

I can say something like, “The class is fun and challenging.”

So, these are, of course, because the noun the subject here is class, not a person, I've

used words that describe a class.

So, these are the sort of the features or the characteristics of the class, my opinion

of the class.

So, if you hear the question, “What's…”

This “what's,” remember, is “what is.”

“What is he or she or it like?” or “What are they like?

“What are you like?” for example.

You should use some word to describe personality or the features of that noun or noun phrase

in your answer.

In this case, I've used the present tense in each example sentence like, “he is,”

“she is,” “the class is.”

Of course, you can use past tense.

So, for example, if someone passes away in your family, you might get a question like,

“What was your grandfather like?” or “What was your grandmother like?”

You can use the past tense, in that case.

“She was really funny,” or “He was really energetic,” for example.

So, you can use past tense, you can use present tense as well to talk about personalities

now and in the future, maybe, like, “He's going to be a great kid when he grows up,”

for babies, for example.

So, past tense, present tense, future tense, you can use these to talk about people's personalities

and the features of things.

Okay.

Let's go to the second question for today.

The second question is, “What does he, she or it look like?”

This is my base example sentence.

“What does he, she or it look like?”

Here, the key phrase is “look like,” “What does he look like?”

“What does she look like?”

So, “look” gives a big hint here.

This is a question about appearance, a question about appearance, so the physical appearance

of something.

“What does he look like?”

“What does she look like?”

So, when you answer this question, you should use words that describe someone's appearance,

not their personality but the appearance, visually.

So, for example, if my question is “What does he look like?”

I could say, “he's,” remember, “he is” and adjectives tall and skinny.

So, these are appearance-related adjectives.

“He is tall and skinny.”

If my question is “What does she look like?”

I could say, “She has brown hair and green eyes,” for example.

Here, I'm talking about some physical quality but I'm using noun phrases to describe her

physical qualities.

So, in that case, I need to use “have” or “has,” in this case.

“She has some physical quality,” as a noun phrase.

So, here, I'm using noun phrases, “brown hair” and “green eyes.”

So, in that case, instead of “is,” I should use “has.”

“She has brown hair,” “She has green eyes.”

If you want to talk about glasses, “She wears glasses,” for example, or “She uses

contacts,” for example.

So, please consider the verb that you use in this case when you're talking about appearance.

Okay, one more.

“What does it look like?”

This is a useful phrase if you have lost something or your friend has lost something and you're

searching for that item but you don't know what its appearance is like, you don't know

what to look for.

You can say, “What does it look like?”

“You can use an expression like this if you lose your wallet, for example.

So, “What does it look like?”

“What does your wallet look like?”

The response could be something like, “My wallet is black leather and has my initials

on it.”

Okay, here I've used initials.

So, initials mean the first letter of your first name and your last name.

So, if your name is John Smith, it would be JS, your initials.

So, here, I've used, “My wallet is black leather,” so here, it's black.

We can use this black leather here following the verb, “is,” plus “has my initials

on it.”

“It has” some characteristic.

It has something attached to it, it has something on it.

So, “It has my initials on it,” So, this is a way to describe an object.

“My wallet is black leather and has my initials on it.”

Of course, here you could say, “My wallet is made of black leather,” if you want to.

“My wallet is made of black leather,” or “My wallet is black leather,” you can

say that as well.

But, a couple points, just a couple examples about ways you can describe objects but this

is always an appearance point.

One huge issue that some students run into with this expression is the use of “looks

like.”

So, here, “What does he look like?”

“What does she look like?”

They think they have to use “look like” in the answer.

But, this is not necessarily correct.

When you use “he,” “she,” or “it looks like” in your answer, it means he

she or it resembles something else.

So, resembles means to have a similar appearance as or to have the same appearance as something

else.

So, if I ask the question, “What does she look like?”

And, the response is, “She looks like a mouse,” it means physically, her appearance

is very similar to a mouse.

So, some students will say—like, if I ask the question, “What does he look like?”

They will say, “He looks like tall.”

But that's not correct.

You can't say, “He looks tall,” either because we can clearly see a person's height.

So, don't use “looks like” in your response to this question unless you want to describe

a resemblance.

You want to explain that one object or one person looks similar to something else.

In that case using “looks like” is fine.

In other cases, like using these simple adjectives or these noun phrases to describe appearance,

don't use looks like in your answer.

So, please keep that point in mind.

Okay, let's go to point three for today.

Question 3 uses “like to.”

As in the question, “What does he or she like to do?”

This is a question about hobbies.

Of course, we can change it to “What do you like to do?”

“What do they like to do?” as well.

But, this is a question about hobbies.

So, one point for listening here.

“What does he like?”

What does she like?” and “What is he like?”

“What is she like?”

Here, we have “is.”

“Is” our verb.

Or, “What are you like?”

“What are they like?” here.

Over here, the verb is “do.”

So, please listen carefully “what's” and “what do.”

These are two very, very different sentences with very different meanings.

This question is a question about hobbies, “What does he like to do?”

“What does she like to do?”

“What do you like to do?”

These are all hobby questions.

So, for example, we can use, “I like listening to music,” as a response or “They like

to go hiking,” for example.

Or, “She likes taking photos,” “He likes to build furniture.”

A couple points here.

You'll notice I've used “listening” and “to something” here.

We can use both the gerund and the infinitive form of the verb.

A gerund is that “ing” form and the infinitive is the “to” plus verb form.

We can use both in our answers.

“She likes taking photos,” could be, “She likes to take photos.”

Both are fine here.

Also, one point to be careful of, when you're using a “she” or “he” sentence, don't

forget that little “S” sound.

“She likes taking photos,” or “He likes to build furniture,” for example.

So, please, don't forget this small “S” sound.

Okay.

So, those are three questions that sound very, very similar but have different meanings and

different responses.

So, please try to remember this the next time someone asks you one of these questions.

So, “What's he or she like?” is a personality or a feature-related question.

Second, “What does he or she or it look like?” is an appearance-related question.

And, finally, “What does he or she like to do?” is a hobby-related question.

So, let's think about these and try to make accurate responses, correct responses here.

If you have any questions, of course, or if you want to try to make a sentence, please

feel free to do so in the comments section below this video.

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