{"id":1459,"date":"2021-04-26T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/?p=1459"},"modified":"2023-11-06T23:12:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T14:12:49","slug":"like-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/like-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Like: Meaning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Have you noticed that some native speakers use the word \u201clike\u201d way too much when speaking?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike\u201d is a word that has lots of meanings, but these are rarely taught to English language learners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time you watch a movie or TV episode in English, see if you can notice how often they use the word \u201clike.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog post, we\u2019ll look at some common uses of the word like and some examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Meaning of Like: Filler Word<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Some native speakers use \u201clike\u201d a lot when speaking. In this case, \u201clike\u201d is just a filler word<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A filler word has no meaning on its own. It\u2019s something we just say to connect the speech. We might also say it when we\u2019re thinking while talking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUmm..\u201d \u201cAh\u2026\u201d \u201cWell\u2026\u201d \u201cSo\u2026\u201d are all filler words. They don\u2019t have any significant meaning on their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning of Like: To enjoy <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll be familiar with the meaning of \u201cto enjoy\u201d or \u201cto love\u201d something. I <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong> football. I <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong> eating chocolate. I <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong> to swim. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can follow it with a noun, as in \u201cI like winter.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike\u201d can also be followed by the verb, either in the gerund form (I like eating<\/strong> chocolate) or in the infinitive (I like to swim<\/strong>). Both ways are fine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it would be wrong just to have a verb follow \u201clike.\u201d \u201cI like swim\u201d is grammatically incorrect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning of Like: To resemble; similar  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He looks just <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong> you!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, like<\/strong> is used to compare two things that are similar. For example, a child might look similar to his parents. Then you might say, \u201cHe looks just like you.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"like<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Meaning of Like: approximately; about <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s like 3 km away. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, like <\/strong>means roughly or approximately. It\u2019s not exactly three kilometers away, but around that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning of Like: Reported speech; quotes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A second common use of the word like<\/strong> is in reported speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said she went to the park, and a dog chased her. He replied that must have been scary.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is an example of a reported speech. You\u2019re quoting someone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in a conversation, you\u2019d be more likely to hear native speakers say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong>, \u201cI went to the park, and I got chased by a dog\u201d then he was <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong>, \u201cThat\u2019s so scary!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the same as: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said, \u201cI went to the park, and a dog chased me.\u201d He replied, \u201cThat must have been so scary!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reporting verb \u201csaid\u201d has been replaced with \u201clike.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a very common use. You wouldn\u2019t use it in writing, but in casual speech, it\u2019s perfectly fine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaning of Like: Uncertainty <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Remember at the beginning of this post, \u201clike\u201d is a filler word? At the same time, it can be used to convey uncertainty. Take a look at the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was, <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong>, going to ring the doctor, and then I didn\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, \u201clike\u201d <\/strong>is used to make the sentence a little less certain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It makes the sentence less forceful and a little more casual. You can certainly say the sentence without \u201clike\u201d and covey the same thing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you use \u201clike\u201d too much in this manner, it might sound like this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was, <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong>, going to ring the doctor, and I didn\u2019t. I was thinking, <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong>, what if there was a long wait. I knew I didn\u2019t, <\/em>like<\/em><\/strong>, have the time. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again, you might hear native speakers use \u201clike\u201d a lot as a filler word. It\u2019s not recommended to use \u201clike\u201d in this matter too much because it could annoy the listener and make you come across as unsure or even unintelligent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, if you want to appear more confident and professional, you\u2019d want to minimize the use of filler words in your speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using \u201clike\u201d<\/strong> may make the speaker sound a bit more unsure about what they\u2019re saying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"like\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

See how many times you can hear the word \u201clike\u201d used in a movie or drama. You\u2019ll most likely find out that a lot of teenagers and young people tend to use \u201clike\u201d as a filler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, try to pay attention to what effect it has on someone\u2019s speech. Remember, we don\u2019t use the word \u201clike\u201d <\/strong>as a filler in writing as much as we use it in speech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do native speakers say, “like” a lot? The word “like” has many meanings in English. Find them out in this post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Like-Meaning-600x362.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Like-Meaning-600x362.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Josh","author_link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/author\/josh\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1459"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1731,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1459\/revisions\/1731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}