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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Like?
Like?
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Pietro
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Sorry for seeming rude. Imeant no harm, really. I just said that (hypothetically) it exists, not only in the speech of Russians. Though another thing troubled me. But please, don�t make my mistake by being rude to me, especially if you�ve got nothing on the topic. I�m just looking for help.
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4 Dec 2008
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Zora
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Pietro,
We were trying to help but telling native speaking teachers that they are wrong is not the best thing to do.
Especially when two of us have said the same thing and a very knowledgable third party confirmed it.
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4 Dec 2008
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Pietro
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Zora - f sorry. I didn�t mean any harm. But I saw this sentence in a number of reliable (but yep, Russian) books. But they turned out to be not so much reliable as had seemed to be at first sight. I understand what you mean, another 2 natives said that the correct way to put is by saying "It looks like it�s raining� (if it is raining)" or
"It looks like rain (if you think it will soon rain)" I quite agree with you all and absolutely convinced now, but I�m trying to get at the roots why so many people, non-natives (I don�t know whether one uses this in some dialect) go on using this incorrect sentence.
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4 Dec 2008
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Vickiii
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 Although I don�t take offense easily... and love a good debate the words "But my professor told me..." is never a great come back or an effective way to support your argument. I would prefer logic and examples....
But anyway - on the otherhand now I am trying to figure out what we mean by the word like:
Like - "I like apples" - I think they taste good/nice
Like - "I like him" - feel attracted to him
Like - "That plant likes wet soil" Would grow well / does well
Like - "It looks more like rain than snow" - probably (yes you can use it with the word more) I think this is another phrasal verb �looks like� is that correct??
Like - "Like, I don�t know, why are you asking me" A stupid use of the word that is popular amongst teenagers to drive their teacher bonkers!
Like - "Feed the dogs whenever you like" - prefer
Just a few for you |
4 Dec 2008
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Zora
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I�m willing to take a stab at this... it�s probably because of the many uses and functions "like" has and how it easily gets mixed up with these cases - "I like reading... " / "He doesn�t like eating"... here like is a verb but after it goes either an -ing or a "to+infinitive" ....
People aren�t realising that when it acts like a preposition the word after it isn�t usually an -ing word... unless it�s an adjective like "stunning", "exciting" etc...
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4 Dec 2008
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Pietro
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Vickiii,�thanks for understanding. Russians are said to be a bit direct and overreacting, though I�m trying to be as polite as I can. Thanks for your examples, they are really great and get to me fine. Giving "It looks more like rain than snow" as an example (which is not very illustrative in fact), I intended to find out whether we "like" could be an adjective, just to prove this (the extract from Macmillan Grammar of English): Like has functions similar to those of an adjective. It is gradable and has attributive uses: He�s so like his father.
�She is more like her sister than her daughter.
�We are completely of a like mind on this issue.
On the other hand I found this in Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English:
All prepositional verbs take a prepositional object, i.e. the noun phrase occuring after the preposition. Pattern 1 (NP + verb + preposition + NP): It just looks like the barrel. And I used this, I admit now, incorrect example as it seemed hypothetically correct to me (I was trying to understand if "raining" is used in the function of either the prepositional object to the copular "look" or the direct object to the adjective "like")
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4 Dec 2008
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Pietro
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Here is one more example I�m trying to comprehend (the function and the part of speech both of "like" and "being"): That looks like being the best solution. If anyone is interested, join in =) Thanks for your answers in advance again. |
4 Dec 2008
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Zora
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.... again... the sentence is incorrect...
It should be "That looks like the best solution"...
No wonder you are full of doubts, if you are getting these examples from a book - I really hate to tell you that the sentences are horribly incorrect...
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4 Dec 2008
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Pietro
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The last one is from Sydney Greenbaum, OUP. And it is considered satisfactory if not absolutely correct there... A very fishy thing with this "like", isn�t it?)) Quote: But most variants are noticed only by English language specialists.
In the following pairs, the [a] sentence is probably satisfactory for all English
speakers, whereas the [b] sentence may be considered odd by some: [4a] That looks like being the best solution.
[4b] That looks to be the best solution.
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4 Dec 2008
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Zora
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Given as clear examples contrasting between two structures "a and b" ... they are, in my opinion, at best correct - but at worst not very good examples to demonstrate what it is you were trying to get across...
look like + "being" is not a very common structure. It�s very formal... and the sentence it is used in as an example is slightly "incomplete"... better would be...
That looks like being the best solution "to our problem".
And quite honestly, the second structure is much more natural to me....
But the answer to your question is... some verbs (phrasals like "look like") follow patterns... and after "looks like" would go an -ing form OR a base infinitive...
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4 Dec 2008
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