[Grammar] As and like

[Kotfor]

Murphy's book says

----------
As can also be a preposition (which means you can use it with a noun), but the meaning is different from like. We use like when we compare things:

She looks beautiful – like a princess. (she isn’t really a princess)

-----------

Is it always true? I have come across this sentence


She loved the costume and acted as a princess before we headed out for the night.

I think that she wasn't a real princess so there must be used "acted like a princess". What do you think about it?

 

[Soup]

Murphy's book says

----------
As can also be a preposition (which means you can use it with a noun), but the meaning is different from like. We use like when we compare things:

She looks beautiful – like a princess. (she isn’t really a princess)

In other words, like before a noun, as before a clause:

[1] She looks (just) like a princess (but she is not). noun
[2] She looks as (if she really is) a princess. clause

• She loved the costume and acted as (if she really was) a princess before we headed out for the night.

 

[Kotfor]

In other words, like before a noun, as before a clause:

[1] She looks (just) like a princess (but she is not). noun
[2] She looks as (if she really is) a princess. clause

• She loved the costume and acted as (if she really was) a princess before we headed out for the night.

Thank you. Still I am not sure if it answers my question.

1) I don't see where you see a clause in

She looks as (if she really is) a princess. clause

if you mean - as if she really is - is a cluase, then why can't we make the same clause in the first sentence

She looks like she is a princess.

So, I don't see a good reason to connect the usage of as with a cluase

2) The second problem is that both of your examples mean the same while it shoudn't be like that in accordance with Murphy's explanation.

He gives such examples.

A few years ago I worked as a bus driver. (He really was a bus driver)

How did we get as if meaning in the second sentence ([2] She looks as ) if as shows facts not counterfactualness?

 

[Kotfor]

[1] She looks (just) like a princess (but she is not). noun
[2] She looks as (if she really is) a princess. clause

Both mean the same here - she is not a princess in your opinion. This is what gives me a hard time. I thought the second one should mean she looks as a princess and she is a princess.

 

[engee30]

To me, She looks as a princess means She is dressed to look like a princess, which she may not be.

 

[Soup]

1) I don't see where you see a clause in

She looks as (if she really is) a princess. clause

A clause has a subject (she) and a verb (is).

if you mean - as if she really is - is a clause, then why can't we make the same clause in the first sentence

She looks like she is a princess.

Oh, speakers do in fact say that (they get like and as confused). The rule is as with a clause, like with a noun.

2) The second problem is that both of your examples mean the same while it shoudn't be like that in accordance with Murphy's explanation.

He gives such examples.

A few years ago I worked as a bus driver. (He really was a bus driver)

How did we get as if meaning in the second sentence ([2] She looks as ) if as shows facts not counterfactualness?

She acted as a princess, meaning she believed she really was a princess and so she was.

 

[Kotfor]

To me, She looks as a princess means She is dressed to look like a princess, which she may not be.

This is what made me start this thread as I see many think so.

It turns out that

She looks as a princess.
She looks like a princess

Mean the same. I find it difficult to accept so far. Plus, Murphy says this

D.As can also be a preposition (which means you can use it with a noun), but the meaning is different from like.

We use like when we compare things:
■ She looks beautiful – like a princess, (she isn’t really a princess)
■ Everyone is sick at home. Our house is like a hospital, (it isn’t really a hospital)

We use as + noun to say what something really is or was (especially when we talk about someone’s job or how we use something):

■ A few years ago I worked as a waiter. (I really was a waiter)
■ Sue has just found a job as a sales clerk.

 

[Kotfor]

A clause has a subject (she) and a verb (is).

Oh, speakers do in fact say that (they get like and as confused). The rule is as with a clause, like with a noun.

She acted as a princess, meaning she believed she really was a princess and so she was.

I am not a teacher I am learning things. All I can say is based on books and my personal analysis. As for this rule you mentioned.

The rule is as with a clause, like with a noun.

That's right. This case is also mentioned by Murphy. However, it doesn't preclude another case where as can be used with a very noun by itself without a cluase.

A few yesr ago I worked as a bus driver. (There is no clause here after as)

 

[Kotfor]

She acted as a princess, meaning she believed she really was a princess and so she was.

This one is also not so clear.

To be a princess and to think/believe that you are a princess are not the same.

 

[engee30]

This is what made me start this thread as I see many think so.

It turns out that

She looks as a princess.
She looks like a princess

Mean the same.

No, they don't. Otherwise, you wouldn't be asking the question, would you?
What we have to be aware of when trying to understand the usage of as and like is that they are context dependent, that is they function differently in different patterns and they play different roles in different situations. It's also about the verbs with which they are used. It's quite a complex issue, to be honest. :-?

 

[nyota]

She loved the costume and acted as a princess before we headed out for the night.

Maybe it's that she was staging it like she was playing the role of a princess in some sort of drama. After all it has been mentioned she's got the right costume.

• She loved the costume and acted as (if she really was) a princess before we headed out for the night.

How did we get as if meaning in the second sentence ([2] She looks as ) if as shows facts not counterfactualness?

I guess you'd have to assume, as Soup's shown, that if she really was is implied here.

 

[5jj]

What we have to be aware of when trying to understand the usage of as and like is that they are context dependent, that is they function differently in different patterns and they play different roles in different situations. It's also about the verbs with which they are used. It's quite a complex issue, to be honest

I agree, especially with the part I have underlined; some of the confusion in this thread, in my opinion is caused by the fact that "She looks as a princess" is simply not a natural sentence.

She acted like [STRIKE]as[/STRIKE] a princess - Her behaviour was similar to that of a princess. She may or may not have actually been a princess.

She acted [STRIKE]like[/STRIKE] as a princess - During her acting career, she played the role of a princess.

She acted [STRIKE]like[/STRIKE] as (the) princess - She stood in for the princess. (The princess could not be there so 'she' performed the duties that the princess would have carried out.)

She looked [STRIKE]as[/STRIKE] like a princess - Her appearance was what one normally associates with that of a princess.

She looked as a princess - An unnatural sentence, in my opinion.

She looked at the ambassador as a princess does -
1. She was a princess, and she looked at the ambassador in a princess-ly manner.
2. She was a princess, and she looked at the ambassador; it is a characteristic of princesses that they look at ambassadors.
3. She was not a princess, but she looked at the ambassador in a princess-ly manner.

Context and, in speech, intonation and pausing would make it clear which of these last three was intended. In all three some speakers might use 'like'; some would consider 'like' to be incorrect.

 

[engee30]

What about these ones:
I treat business as a game.
vs
I treat business like a game.

:?:

 

[5jj]

I treat business as a game. ...vs....I treat business like a game.

For me, 'I' consider that business is a game in the first, not in the second - though 'I' treat it as if it were. In practical terms, the difference in meaning is minimal.

In my opinion.;-)

 

[Verona_82]

By the way, apart from 'being similar' meaning, like can also express the idea of 'happening in the same way'.
If I lived in a monarchy, I think I could hear something like "I, like the princess, disapprove of the minister's policy'.