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Like vs As

by punitkaur » Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:58 am
Proponents of artificial intelligence say they will be able to make computers that can
understand English and other human languages, recognize objects and reason as an expert
does--computers that will be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to
authorize a loan or other purposes such as these

(A) as an expert does-computers that will be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns,
deciding whether to authorize a loan or other purposes such as these
(B) as an expert does, which may be used for purposes such as diagnosing equipment
breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan
(C) like an expert-computers that will be used for such purposes as diagnosing equipment
breakdowns or deciding whether to authorize a loan
(D) like an expert, the use of which would be for purposes like the diagnosis of equipment
breakdowns or the decision whether or not a loan should be authorized
(E) like an expert, to be used to diagnose equipment breakdowns, deciding whether to
authorize a loan or not or the like

Hi guys, I am confused about the usage of Like vs As.

I have seen this post in the forum already.

Is this question mainly testing the Like vs As concept?

Because in my opinion both are correct. meaning , i feel "as an expert does" is a correct comparison to computers that can understand english...

Note- I am not debating the OA C. I understand OA is correct but for other reasons and not because of the usage of Like/As.

I have a general question here...

How do we know if the original sentence intends to compare, computer with expert, or the fact that computers can understand english just as experts do.

Experts, please advice.
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by hrishi19884 » Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:14 pm
Thanks for bringing up that question :-)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Generally, "as" is used to compare similar topic or same objects.

For eg : He is as good as I am.

Here, we both are comparing "how good each one of us is?" ---- it's almost a direct comparison

But, when I say "He runs like a horse"

I compare "him to horse" - two objects or two topics ---it's more of an illusion or indirect comparison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now coming to your SC topic. It compares "computer" to an "expert" --- two topics or two objects ----indirect comparison

"LIKE" should be used. Of all the options given for LIKE "c" is the best that suits in terms of everything - tense, grammar, modifiers etc.
Hope you get it!! Looking forward to see such more questions from you!!
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by sal2 » Tue Dec 22, 2009 9:25 am
My understanding is that a good rule is that "like" is usually used as a preposition and therefore followed by a noun/pronoun. "As" is usually used as a conjuntion of manner and is followed by a verb. The important exception for "as" would be when it is used to mean "in the capacity of", in which case it would be followed by a noun, as was the case in the second sentence of my reply.
Sal
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by hrishi19884 » Tue Dec 22, 2009 10:41 am
NO dear SAL....its not always true.

1) When he is riding on a bike it seems like a crow riding on a cow.

2)He is as good as I am.

In both the examples, noun follows after "like" and "as" . Also, verb follows after both of them.

I can't predict here what to use " as or like" if I follow your explanation.

But if you consider it as topic wise i.e 1) has two different groups(he and horse) i.e. of (human and animal) ---> Use "LIKE"

2) has same group or same characteristic of human(I and he) ----> Use "AS"

you can come to definite conclusion. Hope you agree to me :-)
Hrishi

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by sal2 » Tue Dec 22, 2009 6:56 pm
I am no grammar expert, but this is my understanding of the distinction. In general, "like" serves as a preposition and uses one noun to describe another or to compare one noun to another. For example, "He speaks like a fool". We are comparing "He" and "fool". In contrast, "as" compares two clauses or nouns performing two actions. For example "He is speaking as people do when they are drunk." Here we are comparing his two actions - how he is speaking and how people speak when they are drunk. According to these rules, "He is as good as I am" is correct because we are comparing 2 clauses. Another example is "This is his goal, as it was of his father." Although it seems like 2 nouns are being compared, since you are dealing with 2 clauses, you need to use "as" (see p726 of GMAT official guide). You can compare this principle with previous posts on this topic.

A tough distinction is when "as" is used to mean "in the capacity of". P717 of the GMAT official guide has a good explanation of this distinction. Take the sentence "The rock acts as a buffer." This is grammatically correct, yet it seems to violate the principle that I outlined above because we are dealing with nouns. However, here we need a word to mean "in the capacity of". "As" can act in that capacity, so to speak, because it can be used to describe how something functions. "Like" does not do that. "Like" describes the behavior or actions of something/someone. If you say "He is acting like a fool," you are describing his behavior as being comparable to the behavior of a fool. If you say, "He is acting as a fool," then it means that he is functioning as a fool - maybe he has a part in a play.

This is my understanding, but I could be wrong.
Sal
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by Stacey Koprince » Tue Jan 12, 2010 9:25 am
Received a PM asking me to respond. punitkaur, I'm sorry I'm only getting to this now; I did not return from vacation until after your scheduled test.

If you'd still like to discuss this problem, let me know. (Though I hope you won't - I hope you got the score you wanted and you don't need to worry about this stuff anymore!)

Also, if you do want to discuss this one, please post the source.

On the general topic of "like" vs "as":

"like" is typically used to compare nouns. "as" is typically used to compare clauses* (though "as" can also be used in other ways, not just to make comparisons, as sal2 notes below). *A clause is something that includes a conjugated verb.

This, unfortunately, is not a correctly constructed sentence:
"When he is riding on a bike it seems like a crow riding on a cow. "

Correct construction might be something along the lines of:
"when he is riding on a bike, it seems as though a crow is riding on a cow."
"When he is riding on a bike, he resembles a crow riding on a cow"
"When he is riding on a bike, the effect is of a crow riding on a cow"

Note that the word "like" is used toda to substitute for many different words and constructions (mostly spoken). That doesn't make it good enough for the GMAT. :)
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by pink_08 » Wed Jan 13, 2010 2:27 pm
As per the definition of a clause - something that includes a conjugated verb. But there is no conjugated verb in "a crow riding on a cow " To me it looks like phrase ( prepositional phrase ? )


So should we not use "like".. I have seen sentences with "As" used to introduce a role ( say:: As a president, I would xyz )..But that's the case here...

The explanation does not convince me to use "as" in the below example

This, unfortunately, is not a correctly constructed sentence:
"When he is riding on a bike it seems like a crow riding on a cow. "

Correct construction might be something along the lines of:
"when he is riding on a bike, it seems as though a crow is riding on a cow."
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by A.Kiran » Wed Jan 13, 2010 8:17 pm
This really confused me.

I picked B.

I understand the answer has to be C and not the C.

In B, which clause is used and it is not right here.
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by Stacey Koprince » Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:25 pm
Received a PM asking me to respond to this:
In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe

Why is "as" used here.....Especially when there is no conjugated verb and it is a phrase...

Should not the usage of as dictate two verbs, as you had mentioned in your earlier posts...
What I wrote above was
"as" is typically used to compare clauses* (though "as" can also be used in other ways, not just to make comparisons, as sal2 notes below)
The example you note above is one of those exceptions. Notice that you're using "as" to introduce a prepositional phrase (IN much of EE). The word "as" can function as multiple parts of speech, and one of those parts of speech is a preposition. So when you see "as" in conjuction with another preposition ("as in") then you *may* have an exception.
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by Stacey Koprince » Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:31 pm
pink_08, the problem with the example sentence is a little more complex than just the like vs. as issue.

When you say "When he is riding on a bike it seems like a crow riding on a cow" you've got a pronoun problem. "It" can't refer to "he" because we can't use an inanimate pronoun to refer to a person. So the "it" would have to be an "indefinite" pronoun, referring just to the general "state of being" or "the overall situation." But because we're using the "like" comparison marker, which is used to compare nouns, the tendency is to say that the "it" subject in the second half refers to the "he" subject in the first half... and that's no good.

You could say something like: "When he is riding on a bike, he looks like a crow riding on a cow."

In the example I gave, I divorced the pronoun "it" from "he" by inserting the "as though" and the verb "is" - now we are comparing the two clauses, so we don't have the false implication that the "it" subject in the second half refers to the "he" subject in the first half.
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by agatsya » Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:27 pm
Isn't this the case of a parallelism as well, no other sentence was parallel except the correct answer.
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by Stacey Koprince » Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:46 pm
I can't really discuss the details of this problem without a source (what I have typed so far above was about general grammar using other examples).

I will say that I see parallelism in multiple answer choices, not just one.
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