Like Serves Nouns and Pronouns, Not Verbs

Like Serves Nouns and Pronouns, Not Verbs â€Å"Like† Serves Nouns and Pronouns, Not Verbs â€Å"Like† Serves Nouns and Pronouns, Not Verbs By Daniel Scocco Like is associated with various uncouth usages â€Å"They were, like, all over the place†; â€Å"I was, like, ‘Really?’† common in speech but easily avoided (except for comic effect) in writing, but many people are unaware that another widespread usage is considered improper in formal writing. As a preposition meaning â€Å"similar to,† like is associated with nouns (â€Å"She entered the room like an empress†) and pronouns (â€Å"I don’t know anyone like him†). However, when the word connects one clause (a segment of a sentence that includes a subject and a verb) to another, it impersonates a conjunction: â€Å"He started dancing like his pants were on fire†; â€Å"I arranged the furniture like it had appeared before.† Note, though, that this usage, though ubiquitous in conversation and in informal writing, is not considered acceptable in formal writing; like should be replaced, respectively, by â€Å"as if† (He started dancing as if his pants were on fire†) or as: (â€Å"I arranged the furniture as it had appeared before†). Replacing as with â€Å"the way† is also acceptable: â€Å"I arranged the furniture the way it had appeared before.† (But beware of hypercorrection; as is erroneous when, with the same intent, it precedes a noun: â€Å"She entered the room as an empress† means that the subject literally became, rather than merely resembled, royalty. But â€Å"She entered the room as an empress would† is correct, because the emphasis is then on the subject’s action, not on the type of person the subject is compared to.) In the case of a sentence such as â€Å"Like many first-time visitors do, I stared, dumbstruck, at the vista before me,† either change like to as (â€Å"As many first-time visitors do, I stared, dumbstruck, at the vista before me†) or delete the verb at the end of the introductory phrase (â€Å"Like many first-time visitors, I stared, dumbstruck, at the vista before me†). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Idioms About Numbers50 Idioms About Fruits and VegetablesAppropriate vs. Apropos vs. Apt