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Teo Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

like, alike

The twins are so much ___ that it is difficult to tell one from the other. (A) similar (B) equal (C) like (D) alike

The answer to the above question is choice D, but a Chinese teacher of English insists that choice C is also acceptable.

He thinks "like" can also be used as a predicative adjective. The following examples are cited by him.

They're as like as two peas. (Chambers)

He and his brother are very like. (Longman Lexicon of contemporary English)

Then there are Hans and Peter, the twins ... and they are very like. (Essential English, Book 1, p. 150)

Is he right?
  

Top answer

Hi Teo I'd consider C incorrect. It's certainly not at all natural. I might accept " X and Y are so like that...

— Yankee

  • Hi Teo I'd consider C incorrect.
  • It's certainly not at all natural.
  • I might accept " X and Y are so like that...
  • " However, using 'so much ' I'd expect a construction like this: X is so much like Y that ...
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6 Answers
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Hi Teo

I'd consider C incorrect. It's certainly not at all natural.

I might accept "X and Y are so like that..."
However, using 'so much' I'd expect a construction like this:
X is so much like Y that ...
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According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

like


ADJECTIVE:

1. Possessing the same or almost the same characteristics; similar: on this and like occasions.
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It sounds either British (despite it's being in the American Heritage Dictionary) or old-fashioned to me. (Sorry -- sometimes I can't tell the difference, since my main British influences at the moment are Jane Austen and Emily Bronte.) It's certainly not very common in current American usage.
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I agree - and also would say you will only find the usage "like" in academic or specialized use, not in common speech.

"Like to like" is the only aphorism I can think of in which you might hear it.
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Feebs11"Like to like" is the only aphorism I can think of in which you might hear it.
What aphorism do you mean? What does "like to like" mean?
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People gravitate to people who are similar to them in looks/behaviour/belief/thought.

Q: Have you heard about Davy? He's been arrested for stealing with that boy Phil.
A: Hmm - doesn't really surprise me. Like to like. Phil's always been a bad boy and so's Davy.
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