Improve your English in the Reading Rooms
Listen and write
Red Level
Lesson Thirteen
Like
The word “like” gets special attention in this level because it’s a popular word in English. Understanding how to use “like” is important.
1. “Like” expresses your happiness with something or someone
I like this ice cream. / I like my neighbors
2. “Like” is used to make comparisons and to ask questions about people and things:
- Question: What is it like to live in Minnesota in January?
- Answer: It’s like living in Siberia.
- Question: Why is he like that?
- Answer: I don’t know. He’s just naturally a mean person.
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A cantaloupe is like a honeydew melon. or use kind of like: kind of like = similar to A honeydew melon tastes kind of like a cantaloupe. | |
3. “Like” is often used with “would” as a polite way of asking what a person wants. You often hear this in restaurants:
Question: What would you like to have for lunch? |  |
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| Answer: I’d like a veggie sub, french fries, and a coke. (note the use of the contraction: I’d like = I would like.) |  |
4. “How do you like…” is used to ask if someone likes something. It’s very similar to “Do you like _______?”
- Question: How do you like living in this city?
- Answer: It’s great. I really like it.
- Question: How do you like your pizza?
- Answer: It’s awesome!
5. “Like” sometimes doesn’t mean anything at all. Americans use it in the same way they use “you know” and “uuhhhh….” Try to avoid doing this when you speak English. It’s a bad habit. Teenagers use this “like” a lot.
- That movie was, like, so good.
- I was, like, really mad at my teacher because he gave me a bad grade, and he was, like, “Here. you earned this.”
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Warning: “I like.” The verb should have an object somewhere after it. (The exception is example #5.)
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