Category: Class

Two of the most confusing words in the English language is ‘as’ and ‘like’. This is because both are used to compare actions or situations. However, it is important to note some significant differences.

USES OF ‘AS’

• to talk about job or function

I worked as a marketing specialist for 4 years after graduating from the university.
She used her credit card as a key to unlock her door.

• to make comparisons (as adjective as)

You always have to be as efficient as all your other colleagues.
It’s as good as it gets.

• to make comparisons (as conjunction followed by an independent clause)

Claire attended Harvard University, as her mother had before her.
He’s a talented musician, as most of his friends are.

USES OF ‘LIKE’

• preposition followed by a noun or a pronoun

She slept like a baby all night.
All of my friends are much like her.
His children talk just like their mother.

• to make comparisons (Like and As if/As though)

She looks as if she’s been to war.
They danced as though no one’s watching.
It looks like your bag handle’s going to break.

Some expressions that use ‘as’:

As you know, our boss is going to be on leave for two weeks.
They tried using the application as you suggested but the result still wasn’t good.
As we agreed, the team will be attending the training all week.
Our competitor’s proposal is the same as ours!

Some verbs cannot be used in the progressive tenses. They are called non-action verbs.
Non-action verbs often point to emotions, relationships, senses, or thoughts.

The most common non-action verbs are:

•adore – I adore those shoes!
•agree – She agrees with his thoughts on the story.
•appear – He appears to be sad.
•appreciate – I appreciated your help very much.
•astonish – We were astonished at how much she had aged.
•be – Who is he supposed to be?
•believe – Do you believe me now?
•belong – He doesn’t belong to this world.
•concern – This is an issue that should concern everyone.
•consist – The cake consists of raw eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
•contain – Each large crate contains 12 boxes.
•cost – The trip will cost you $1000.
•deny – Did you deny your love for him?
•depend – We are depending on you.
•deserve – You deserve a holiday.
•detest – I detest any kind of cruelty.
•disagree – I disagree with you about that.
•dislike – I dislike the idea.
•doubt – He may come back tomorrow with the money, but I doubt it.
•equal – 16 ounces equals one pound.
•feel – I feel happy.
•fit – The refrigerator won’t fit in our kitchen.
•hate – Kelly hates her teacher.
•have – I have a problem.
•hear – Can you hear me?
•imagine – Can you imagine how it feels to be blind?
•impress – She impressed us with her sincerity.
•include – The hotel room charge includes breakfast.
•involve – The accident involved two cars and a truck.
•know – I know what you did.
•lack – If you lack anything, ask for it.
•like – I like you.
•loathe – I loathe doing housework.
•look – I look fat in the picture.
•love – I love shopping.
•matter – It doesn’t matter.
•mean – What do you mean?
•mind – I don’t mind.
•need – I don’t need my phone.
•owe – He owes her an apology.
•own – Their family owns this house.
•please – You can’t please me.
•possess – She possesses an unusual talent.
•prefer – I prefer coffee over tea.
•promise – I promise, I’m not lying.
•realize – Suddenly I realized (that) I was lost.
•recognize – I didn’t recognize you.
•remember – Do you remember me?
•resemble – You resemble your mother very closely.
•satisfy – I am not really satisfied with the job you did.
•see – Can you see what is happening?
•seem – You seem nervous.
•smell – Just smell this perfume!
•sound – You sound great!
•suppose – I suppose you’re right.
•surprise – The news surprised everyone.
•taste – The food tastes good.
•think – Everybody thinks she’s the best dancer.
•understand – I don’t understand you.
•want – I want to eat.
•weigh – I weigh 120 pounds.
•wish – I wish for a new car.

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Form of Article “the”

The definite article “the” is the most frequently used word in English.

We use the definite article in front of a noun when the speaker believes that the listener already knows what he is referring to.

Uses of the article “the”

The definite article ‘the’ is used in the following cases:

• because there is only one

The sun is very bright.
Who is the president of Spain?

• because there is only one in that context

My family lives in a house next to the church. (= the church in our town)
Mom, can I borrow the car? (= the family’s car)

• because it has already been mentioned

A young man tried to rob a jewelry shop in Tampa. The man used a big rock to smash the windows of the shop.

• with a superlative adjective

He is the tallest kid in our class.
It is the oldest house in the village.

• to talk about musical instruments and dances

Jerry plays the guitar really well.
Can you do the foxtrot?

• to refer to a system or service

How long does it take on the train?
She heard it on the radio.

• with countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic

the United Kingdom
the People’s Republic of China

• with countries which have plural nouns as their names

the Netherlands
the Philippines

• with geographical features, such as canals, oceans, groups of islands, seas, rivers, and mountain ranges

the Amazon
the Himalayas

• with works of art or well-known buildings

the Mona Lisa
the Empire State Building

• We do not use the definite article with names.

Robert Downey Jr. played Iron Man.
Madrid is the capital of Spain.
Japan is in Asia.

Other English grammar lessons can be found here.

We use quantifiers such as much, many, little, few, a lot and plenty when we want to give someone information about the number of something.

Much can be used ONLY with noncount nouns:
Examples:
How much money do you have?
There isn’t much coffee left.

We can use a lot of or lots of with both count and non-count nouns:
Examples:
We have lots of time.
Jerry has lots of friends.
There was a lot of food.

Plenty of is a colloquial form which can also be used with both count and non-count nouns:
Examples:
We have plenty of time.
Joe has plenty of friends.
There was plenty of food.

Many and a few can be used ONLY with count nouns:
Examples:
She asked too many questions.
The crowd was silent for a few minutes after the play ended.

Remember:

We put a noun directly after a quantifier when we talk about members of a group in general.
Examples:
Few snakes are dangerous.
You can learn many things from books.

But if we are talking about members of a particular group, we also use “of the”.
Examples:
Few of the snakes in this zoo are dangerous.
Many of the kids played in the park.