"he drives like her"

Question

Is this sentence correct: "he drives like her"?

The question is whether in this sentence "her" should be "she" (or that "like" should not be used) since (my friends say) in the phrase "like she drives" (or "as she drives") the verb is implied and the pronoun is the subject of the clause. The meaning of the sentence is " he drives like she drives"- i.e., in the manner that she drives, not "as she drives," meaning he and she drive simultaneously. I contend that "like" in this sentence acts as a preposition and therefore "drives like her" is correct. Any advice?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

It's OK.
According to the dictionary, like can be either a conjunction or a preposition.

He drives like (in the same manner as) she drives. (conjunction).
But the more common definition is as a preposition: in like manner with; similarly to; in the manner characteristic of: He works like a beaver. Using this definition, "He drives like her." is correct.

Personally, I would use the propositional form with the object "her."
Here is a usage note from the dictionary:

Like as a conjunction meaning “as, in the same way as” (Many shoppers study the food ads like brokers study market reports) or “as if” (It looks like it will rain) has been used for nearly 500 years and by many distinguished literary and intellectual figures. Since the mid-19th century there have been objections, often vehement, to these uses. Nevertheless, such uses are almost universal today in all but the most formal speech and writing. In extremely careful speech and in much formal writing, as, as if, and as though are more commonly used than like: The commanding general accepted full responsibility for the incident, as any professional soldier would. Many of the Greenwich Village bohemians lived as if (or as though) there were no tomorrow.

Kooyeen · Answer

These are all the different ways I would say the same thing:

1. He drives as she drives.
2. He drives like she drives.
3. He drives like her.
4. He drives (in) the same way as she drives.
5. He drives (in) the same way as her.

#2 might not be considered very good in formal written English by some people, but it's perfectly fine in everyday English.

"he drives like her"

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