What would be life be like

Question

Dear all,Please see the sentences shown below. I saw the first sentence on a video. But the second one is my own sentence. As a non-native speaker I tend to write like this. I don't understand why "like" is used in the first sentence. I'd like to get your opinion on this. What would life be like without modern appliances?What would be the life without modern appliances?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

cat navy 425your opinion

be like = resemble; be similar to

What ... be like includes, of course, is like, was like, etc.

I wonder what it is like to be a bird. (~ How do birds think and feel?)
I wonder what it was like to be a Viking.
I wonder what it would be like to be the president of a large country.

What would Paris be like without the Eiffel Tower?
(How would Paris be different if the Eiffel Tower were not there?)
What would life be like without modern appliances?
(How would life be different if we did not have modern appliances?)

cat navy 425What would be the life without modern appliances?

This isn't correct. 'life' is an abstract noun in this context, so it does not take a determiner (the), and the statement form life would be is changed to would life be when it becomes a question. Thus,

What would life be without modern appliances?

This sentence is similar to the original (like the original), but not exactly the same.

The difference between be and be like is probably more easily seen in these pairs of sentences:

A truck is like a car. (true)
A truck is a car. (false)

A fox is like a dog. (true)
A fox is a dog. (false)

So I think if you ask what life would be without modern appliances, you're asking for something more exact than if you ask what life would be like without modern appliances.

CJ

What would be life be like

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