HARD TIME DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN LIKE VS AS HELP PLEASE

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rbansal: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 36; Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:42 pmFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 1 times

by rbansal » Mon May 09, 2011 10:59 am

Hello,

Can someone please explain in plain English the difference between Like Vs As, I am getting lost in the jargon of preposition and getting even more confused.

Thank you in advance,

RB

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Source: Beat The GMAT — Sentence Correction | Mon May 09, 2011 10:59 am

pemdas: Legendary Member; Posts: 1084; Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:33 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 158 times

by pemdas » Mon May 09, 2011 11:14 am

As vs. Like

Joe acts as Susan's mentor <-> Joe is Susan's mentor => functions as one (mentor).
Sam acts like her mentor <-> Sam is not her mentor but he behaves like one.

rbansal wrote:Hello,

Can someone please explain in plain English the difference between Like Vs As, I am getting lost in the jargon of preposition and getting even more confused.

Thank you in advance,

RB

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Mon May 09, 2011 12:24 pm

rbansal wrote:Hello,

Can someone please explain in plain English the difference between Like Vs As, I am getting lost in the jargon of preposition and getting even more confused.

Thank you in advance,

RB

as is a conjunction . it needs a clause . like is a preposition . needs a noun

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pemdas: Legendary Member; Posts: 1084; Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:33 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 158 times

by pemdas » Mon May 09, 2011 1:02 pm

what does this post mean? in the previous example 'like' is followed by the pronoun not the noun; care to extend the rule/explain the post?

the use of As vs. Like is situational here. 'as' is different from 'like' - the very basic English grammar.

mundasingh123 wrote:
rbansal wrote:Hello,

Can someone please explain in plain English the difference between Like Vs As, I am getting lost in the jargon of preposition and getting even more confused.

Thank you in advance,

RB
as is a conjunction . it needs a clause . like is a preposition . needs a noun

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Mon May 09, 2011 1:13 pm

Pronoun is something that can stand for a noun that is why we check for its antecedent .
What i wrote was how to distinguish between the 2 when u r given an SC . Yes both have different uses but why do u need to waste time interpreting the meaning first . Meaning is secondary . First check grammar then meaning. Most of the time , you will be able to arrive at the OA after doing away with the grammatically wrong choices .
If you bother to know , the example that you gave of as . U have killed the "does " which should follow the mentor . What u wrote is allowed though

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pemdas: Legendary Member; Posts: 1084; Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2011 2:33 pmFollowed by: 21 members; Thanked: 158 times

by pemdas » Mon May 09, 2011 1:52 pm

thanks for clarification. Nevertheless your GMAT SC feeling (only GMAT wise, this can be fine if you're drama writer or lecturing English at school) is wrong.

I am legitimate to say both
Joe acts as Susan's mentor
Joe acts like Susan's mentor

the only difference above is meaning (!)

As we are involved in the BTG discussion thread, sometimes we may get the useful guidance/advice from the experts. Here's one by Ron Purewal answering on the note of grammar prevalence over meaning on GMAT by the previous poster
https://www.beatthegmat.com/faced-with-a ... 80395.html

lunarpower wrote: ...

not considering the meaning of sentences in SC is a huge, huge mistake, since so many things (parallel elements, usage of modifiers, verb tenses, etc.) necessarily flow from the meaning of the sentence! if you don't consider what the sentence means -- i.e., if you simply analyze it from the standpoint of grammar alone -- then you are shutting yourself out of reliably being able to find any of these mistakes.
when you read the prompt of an SC problem, READ FOR MEANING FIRST!
don't worry about being able to pick out mistakes in the prompt -- you'll find the mistakes when you compare the answer choices to each other.

mundasingh123 wrote:Meaning is secondary . First check grammar then meaning. Most of the time , you will be able to arrive at the OA after doing away with the grammatically wrong choices .

cheers

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mundasingh123: Legendary Member; Posts: 2330; Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:14 amFollowed by: 26 members; Thanked: 56 times

by mundasingh123 » Thu May 12, 2011 1:14 am

Did i say any of the sentences that you provided as examples are wrong .
Did i say both the sentences meant the same thing
i just pointed out how to distinguish between the 2 from the technical perspective . You are just confusing the original poster even more . I answered to the topic of this thread .

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