Like and as

Like = 'similar to', 'the same as'.

• What a beautiful house! It's like a palace, (not as a palace)


• 'What does Sandra do?'   'She's a teacher, like me.' (not as me)


• Be careful! The floor has been polished. It's like walking on ice. (not as walking)


• It's raining again. I hate weather like this, (not as this)

In these sentences, like is a preposition.
So it is followed by a noun (like a palace), a pronoun (like me / like this) or -ing (like walking).

You can also say '... like (somebody/something) doing something':

• 'What's that noise? 'It sounds like a baby crying."

Sometimes like = for example:

• Some sports, like motor-racing, can be dangerous.

You can also use such as (= for example):

• Some sports, such as motor-racing, can be dangerous.

As = in the same way as, or in the same condition as.

We use as before subject + verb:

• I didn't move anything. I left everything as it was.


• You should have done it as I showed you.

Like is also possible in informal spoken English:

• I left everything like it was.

Compare as and like:

• You should have done it as I showed you. (or like I showed you)


• You should have done it like this, (not as this)

Note that we say as usual / as always:

• You're late as usual.


• As always, Nick was the first to complain.

Sometimes as (+ subject + verb) has other meanings.

For example, after do:

• You can do as you like. (= do what you like)


• They did as they promised. (= They did what they promised.)

We also say as you know / as I said / as she expected / as I thought etc. :

• As you know, it's Emma's birthday next week. (= you know this already)


• Andy failed his driving test, as he expected. (= he expected this before)

Like is not usual in these expressions, except with say (like I said):

• □As I said yesterday, I'm sure we can solve the problem,   or Like I said yesterday ...

As can also be a preposition, but the meaning is different from like.

• Sue Casey is the manager of a company.
  As the manager, she has to make many important decisions.
  (As the manager = in her position as the manager)


• Mary Stone is the assistant manager.
  Like the manager (Sue Casey), she also has to make important decisions.
  (Like the manager = similar to the manager.)

As (preposition) = in the position of, in the form of etc. :

• A few years ago I worked as a taxi driver, (not like a taxi driver)


• We haven't got a car, so we use the garage as a workshop.


• Many words, for example 'work' and 'rain', can be used as verbs or nouns.


• London is fine as a place to visit, but I wouldn't like to live there.


• The news of the tragedy came as a great shock.