6.112 'like' and 'as' in comparison

You can use the preposition 'like' to indicate that someone or something behaves in a similar way to someone or something else.

• He was panting like a bloodhound.
• She shuffled like an old lady.

There is more information about comparison in general in the section beginning at paragraph 2.108.

6.113

You can also use 'like' and 'as' to say that someone or something is treated in a similar way to someone or something else. The noun group after 'like' or 'as' describes the person or thing affected by the action, not the person or thing doing the action.

• My parents dressed me like a little doll.
• Their parents continue to treat them as children.
• She treated her more like a daughter than a companion.

You can also use expressions such as 'like this' or 'like that' to refer to a particular manner of doing something.

• If you're going to behave like this, the best thing you can do is to go back to bed.
• How dare you speak to me like that?

The use of 'like' and 'as' in subordinate clauses is explained in paragraphs 8.78 to 8.80.

6.114

You can say that one way of doing something has as much of a quality as another way of doing something, by using 'as' followed by an adverb followed by another 'as'. The second 'as' is followed by a noun group, a pronoun, an adjunct, or a clause.

• The company has not grown as quickly as many of its rivals.
• She wanted someone to talk to as badly as I did.