Well hey there! I'm Emma from mmmEnglish
and I have an extremely useful lesson for you today.
I'm going to teach you all the different ways that native English
speakers use like in everyday conversations
and if you're thinking about using like as a verb,
well that's one way
but I've got five extra ways that you can use like to help you
sound more natural and more fluent
as you're speaking in English.
So like, let's get into the lesson!
Like is often used as an adjective
and when it is, it means the same as similar,
to be like,
to look like,
to feel like,
to taste like
or to smell like.
This dish looks like it's savoury but it smells like dessert.
In this context, we're using like as an adjective
to compare two things.
It's five degrees today but it feels like minus five.
Feels similar to minus five degrees
but it's not actually minus five.
Watch out for this one though
because there are a couple of different meanings for feel like.
Feel like can mean want.
I feel like an ice cream.
No, I mean an ice cream, I want an ice cream.
I want to eat an ice cream because it's hot.
And feel like can also mean think.
I feel like this is a bad idea.
So another way to say that is to say
I think this is a bad idea.
I've got a feeling.
I feel like this is a bad idea.
Like can be an adverb as well and using like
as an adverb is going to help you to sound
super natural when you speak.
It's really commonly used by native speakers
in informal situations.
So as an adverb, like is a synonym for about,
around or approximately.
I spoke to her like ten minutes ago.
So here the meaning of like is about.
I spoke to her about ten minutes ago.
He spent like a month in Colorado.
He spent approximately a month in Colorado
or around a month.
Notice that like is always used before an amount
when it's an adverb like ten minutes or one month.
And it's not just time, it can be used before any number.
It only costs like twenty bucks.
There are like ten left in the jar.
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We also use like as a linking word.
So linking words help to connect ideas in sentences
in both written and spoken English:
and,
because,
as a result,
they're all linking words
and they're really useful in English sentences.
And like can be a linking word, as well.
My nephews love playing on toys with wheels
like scooters, bikes and skateboards.
I love old-fashioned names like Arthur and Iris.
So in this context, like means for example or for instance.
Just keep it in mind that like is commonly used
in informal spoken English.
In a more formal context or when you're writing,
it's much better to use for example or for instance
but in spoken informal English,
like,
very casual, very natural.
Now this is where the fun begins.
We're going to talk about some of the newer ways
to use like.
Some people out there, they might argue or they might
disagree with me about what I'm about to say
or what I'm about to teach.
They might say that like is not
proper English when it's used in this way,
in the way that I'm about to teach you
but if a significant number of English speakers
around the world are using the language in this way
in their everyday conversations then
I think that it is worth learning about
and it is worth understanding.
And can you really say that something is not proper English
when so many people around the world are using it this way?
I don't think so.
We can use like to retell stories and to report
what someone else has said
and when it's used in this way it's called
the quotative like because we're quoting what someone else
said or what someone else felt or implied.
My boss was like, "I need the report in an hour".
And I was like,
"Are you kidding me? That's not enough time!"
When I say "My boss was like..."
or "I was like"
it's really similar to saying she said or I said
in reported speech, really similar
but not quite the same.
When used in this way, like is less precise
than reported speech but it's also much more expressive
because I would never say
"Are you kidding me?" to my boss.
I would never actually say that.
But I would think it or maybe I wish that I had said it
at the time and it makes for a much better story
when you're retelling it to someone else.
When we use like instead of say or tell or ask
we can retell not only what someone else said
but also what they were thinking or they were
feeling at the time so it's
quite useful and it makes for really great storytelling.
The things that you didn't actually say
but maybe you wish you had
or a feeling that you had
at the time when something happened,
these can all be expressed with like in this way
and we can even use like to reenact facial expressions
and gestures and that's why it can be so expressive
and such a great and useful tool when you're retelling stories.
So for example, if I'm retelling a story
I might say something like:
My neighbour was telling me how someone keeps stealing
all the lemons off their tree
and then Shah walked over
with a couple of lemons in his hand and he was like,
"Hey, check out these lemons!"
and I was like...
So this quotative like is only really used in casual,
spoken English so make sure if you're writing someone else's
words or you're telling a story in written English
you stick with the regular reporting verbs
and reported speech.
Remember I recently made a lesson about reported speech.
You can watch it right up there.
Last but not least,
we can use like as a filler word and a filler word
or it's also called a discourse marker,
they're used to connect or to organise our thoughts
or even to express a certain attitude while we're speaking.
They allow us to think about what we want to say next
without interrupting or disrupting the flow
of conversation so they're really useful.
They help our speech to sound more natural and less robotic
and they also help other people who are listening
to you in a conversation
know that you haven't finished talking yet,
that you're still going.
Filler words like just,
actually and even um,
they're useful and of course like, as well. They're all filler words
and even though it's best to avoid filler words if you can,
they're also extremely useful in conversations to help you
hold your thought while you think about what to say next.
Umm.. It's like if you have to do work
or like do housework and clean your room.
It's like stuff like that.
I'm saying like quite a lot there because I'm
trying to think about what I want to say next.
And using like as a filler word can be really fun
especially if you try and copy a bit of the intonation of
some of the more famous examples
of like being used in this way.
If you've ever seen the movie Clueless you'll know exactly
what I'm talking about. It's one of my favourite movies.
I said RSVP because it was a sit-down dinner
but people came that like did not RSVP
so I was like totally buggin'.
We just heard like as a filler word.
People came that like, didn't RSVP.
Now the sentence would make perfect sense without
the word like in it
but she's using like
as a way of adding dramatic pause or it exaggerates
the information that's following.
It's like if I said
Clueless is like, my all-time favourite movie.
Like just helps me to illustrate how much I love it.
It flows and it sounds really natural,
it's definitely not perfect English and it's not needed in any way
but it's very much a part of naturally spoken English.
What are you gonna do about it?
Now adding a few likes to your spoken English
is going to help you to sound more confident and more fluent
in English so make sure you're listening out
for the way that native English speakers use like
as they speak and start thinking about
how it's being used, what type of word is it,
what function does it have in that sentence?
And see if you can start using like in
some of these different ways,
play around with it a little bit, have some fun.
I hope you liked the lesson.
Don't forget to like it and subscribe to the channel.
I will see you again next week with another lesson.
Bye for now!