LIKE AS or SUCH AS How to Give Example in English Basic English Grammar
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hi everybody my name is Alisha 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 you’re like her as doesn’t 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 symbol 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 may 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
use 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 ass 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 as 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 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 as if it seems that she
is a baby she is not a baby but I’m
comparing 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 ass so
remember life 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 the expression such
as such as so such as is is this is a
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 introduced
those with the word such as or with the
expression such as so such as is
introducing those in a more formal way
therefore we can use it again even in
casual situations to 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 alright
finally then just as we saw with the
word like we can
so 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
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soon bye
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