问英语｜英语常见问题解答

核心问题

She saw that there was nothing else she could do, the room was clean like it had never been $\$

before. (TOEFL)

答案规定将 like(C) 改为 as, 即 like 不能用作连词。但是, 我在英语语法书上却看到过这样的句子:

It was just like I imagined.

这正像我所想象的那样。

这是怎么回事呢？

词典解答

对于大中学生,应明确地告诉他们:like一般用作介词,而不能用作连词。事实上也确实如此。在正式英语里,as和like的分工是很明确的。

Please try to write $\$ (CGEL)

但是英语教师和英语研究者则应掌握得多一些。虽然把 like 用作从属连词遭到规定语法学派的坚决反对，但是这种用法在非正式语体的英语里却是很常见的。

I can't sing like I used to. (CEU) 我不能像以前那样唱歌了。
He writes just like his brother did when he was young. (CEU) 他现在写文章正像他哥哥年轻时写文章一样。
Please try to write like I do. (CGEL) 请尽量按我这样写。
... we would still go to Renaissance Weekend over New Year's like we always did. (Hillary, Living History) ……我们仍会像往年一样，新年时共度复兴周末。(希拉里，《亲历历史》)
I was supposed to do a good job, just like everyone else who worked for a living. (B. Clinton, My Life) 我理所当然地应该干好工作，正如所有靠工作维持生活的人一样。（《我的生活》）