Like or as if

Question

Dear teachers,Could you please check and help me choose whther " LIKE" or "AS IF" in the sentence below?I saw him leaning on the door, facing the hallway where the entrance is like he was waiting for someone...and we I saw him leaning on the door, facing the hallway where the entrance is as if  he was/ were waiting for someone...Thank you in advance

Cbsteh · Accepted Answer

I saw him leaning on the door, facing the hallway where the entrance is, as if he was waiting for someone
Chris

Yoong Liat · Answer

TuongvanDear teachers,
Could you please check and help me choose whther " LIKE" or "AS IF" in the sentence below?

I saw him leaning on the door, facing the hallway where the entrance is like he was waiting for someone...and we

I saw him leaning on the door, facing the hallway where the entrance is as if he was/ were waiting for someone...

Thank you in advance

The first version is AmE. The second is BrE, and I would use 'was'.
As pointed out by Cbsteh, there should be a comma after 'is'.

Avangi · Answer

<< like he was waiting for someone...>> << as if he was/ were waiting for someone... >>

They're all fine, subjunctive or simple past. "Like" is colloquial, or casual, unless you're using it to make a direct comparison to a noun or gerund: He was looking at the door, lika a sad puppy. I guess I'm trying to say it would be casual to use it as a conjunction, joining a clause as in your example.

"As if" is a connector and requires the addition of the verb, usually "to be," but could be transitive, "as if he had just seen a ghost," (clause) or "as if losing his balance" (gerund).

"As if" works in all cases, adjective complement, participial phrase (adjectival), noun complement - as if he were dying, as if he were a bird, as if he were drawing his last breath.

Dang, what a mess! I wish I were ambitious enough to scrap this and start over!

Like or as if

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