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hi everybody my name is alicia in this
lesson i'm going to talk about the
differences between like as and such as
and i'm also going to explain some
examples of when you might use these
words so let's get started i want to
begin today with the word like like so
one of the ways we use the word like is
to make a comparison when we want to
compare two things or perhaps more
we can use the word like to do this
the correct use of the word like if you
want to be very strict
is using the word like before a noun
phrase so when you want to use the word
like or maybe you're guessing should i
use like or as which we'll talk about a
little bit later
make sure to think about the part of the
sentence that comes after the word so
after your like or as does it use a noun
phrase only is there just a noun or
maybe a noun phrase if there's just a
noun then you should use the word like
like is the best choice like is the
correct choice in that case let's look
at some examples of this okay first one
my friend eats like a pig so here i have
the word like making the comparison
between my friend and a pig so here a
pig follows the word like it's a simple
noun so i know that like is correct
because like should be used before a
simple noun or simple noun phrase
let's look at another example
she sleeps like a baby here we see the
same pattern a simple noun baby follows
the word like so i know that like is the
correct choice here
last they cook like professional chefs
so here professional chefs is my noun
phrase that follows the word like i know
that like is correct because i should
use it before noun phrases we'll take a
look at some different examples later
what to do when this is not a noun
phrase but please keep this in mind we
use like to make comparisons when
the comparison is just a simple noun
phrase okay let's look at a couple of
other points
we can use the word like to introduce
examples maybe like a list when you're
speaking or maybe when you're writing as
well so when you want to introduce a few
examples of something you can use like
to do this for example
i did lots of things last weekend like
biking hiking and mountain climbing here
i'm introducing a list of activities
hiking biking and mountain climbing i
used the word like with kind of downward
intonation to introduce that so
i did a lot of things last weekend like
biking hiking so you can hear like like
introduces that
so when i want to introduce the example
i can use this sort of downward
intonation to do that
if however i want to ask someone for an
example i should use the opposite
intonation this is a very casual way to
ask someone for an example
let's imagine a conversation then so
person a says i have so many ideas for
the weekend and b says
like
so here the difference is that i'm using
an upward intonation like to ask for an
example so person a introduced
maybe some ideas some activities to do
for the weekend b would like to hear
some of the ideas so b requests it with
like with upward intonation so please
keep this in mind your intonation is
important if you use different
intonation it might not be clear to the
listener so please keep this in mind
when you're using the word like okay
let's move on to the next point for
today though the word as
so
as is also used to make a comparison
however the correct use of as is before
a phrase that contains a verb so when we
looked at the word like we saw that we
use like before a noun or a noun phrase
so there's no verb that follows the word
like
with as however if there is a verb in
the phrase that follows the word we
should use the word as let's look at
some examples
he cooks just as my mother does so here
i have a verb at the end of this
sentence just as my mother does just is
just kind of an emphasis word it's
showing
that it's it's exactly the same as
my mother does so here because i have a
verb
in the part of the sentence that follows
my comparison word i need to use as as
is the correct choice here let's look at
another example this is similar to the
one i introduced with the word like
here she sleeps as if she were a baby
here i've chosen if
here
you see the word were a verb follows
this comparison word she sleeps as if
she were a baby so here also i'm noting
she is not a baby but i'm using the
phrase as if she were meaning it seems
uh as if it seems that she is a baby she
is not a baby but i'm comparing it i'm
making the comparison with the
expression as if she were so i need to
use as here
okay last one we talk just as we did in
college so again we see a verb follows
the comparison word as did in this case
so i need to use as as is the correct
choice here
now although this is kind of the
i suppose the strict explanation of this
i should mention that native speakers
often do not follow these rules
in many cases in casual conversations
native speakers tend to use the word
like for all comparisons as may sound a
bit more formal so
it's very common it's very natural to
make mistakes with these even among
native speakers if you make a mistake i
don't think you should worry about it
but if it's important to you to be very
very correct all the time this is a good
rule to follow this is the correct way
to use like and as so remember like
should come before a noun phrase as
should come before a phrase that
contains a verb that's the difference
between these two however at least in
american english you will hear like used
very often to make comparisons i myself
do it i don't use as so often in my
everyday conversations for comparisons i
tend to rely on like more so maybe we'll
see this change this rule change a
little bit more over time who knows
anyway let's continue on to the last
point for today um the expression such
as such as
so such as is this is the set phrase
these two words are always together in
this case
and we use such as in the same way that
we use like
for introducing examples or for asking
about examples however such as just
sounds more formal so if i want to
introduce an example
but i'm in a more formal situation like
at work or perhaps with someone who is
in a position above me or i just want to
be more polite i can use such as to
describe the examples here i have an
example sentence we need to improve our
strategies in departments such as
marketing customer relations and product
development so here i've listed three
examples in this case departments
and i introduce those with the word such
as or with the expression such as so
such as is introducing those in a more
formal way
therefore um we can use it again uh
even in casual situations too like but
if you want to kind of elevate that sort
of politeness a little bit like here
another example ideas such as hiking
camping and bowling were discussed for
the company retreat so again even if
you're using kind of casual words to
list even if you're listing kind of
casual examples
you can still use the words such as to
introduce them it just sounds a little
bit more formal
all right finally then just as we saw
with the word like we can also use such
as to ask for examples and this is with
upward intonation so this same rule can
apply to the expression such as so for
example i have so many ideas for the
weekend
such as we can use the same upward
intonation to ask someone for an example
it's just going to sound a little bit
more polite if you choose such as
instead of like so that's a basic
overview of some of the differences
between these three words or these three
expressions i hope that that was helpful
for you if you have any questions or
comments or if you'd like to try to make
a sentence please feel free to do so in
the comment section below this video if
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this lesson and i will see you again
soon bye-bye
[Music]
you