Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Comparison | 767

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Very

and exact may also intensify same, but they are used after the:

They bought 

the very same DVD player as we did without realising it.

(or: They bought the exact same DVD player …)

Like

467c

Like

is used as a preposition and as a conjunction (

but 

Û

471f below

) to indicate

similarity:

Your dog’s 

like mine. He’ll eat anything.

Are you going to France again, 

like you did last year?

The following adverbs are commonly used to modify like: 

Your ideas sound just 

a little like our ideas.

It feels 

just like a new car.

His nature is 

quite like my father’s.

Note that sentences with look, seem and sound may sometimes not be true

comparisons but may be hedged modal forms:

[identifying a coat among a pile of coats]

That looks 

like mine.

(could mean either: ‘It appears similar to mine.’ or ‘It probably is mine.’)

That sounds 

like Steve’s car.

(could mean either: ‘That car sounds similar to Steve’s car.’ or ‘That probably is

Steve’s car.’)

A–Z

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