Grammar: ALIKE AND LIKE

Usage Tip

Use 'alike' to mean 'like each other'. Use 'like' to mean 'like someone else'.

Example Sentences

We are very much alike.
Tom looks like Peter.

A. LIKE

a. LIKE as verb.

As a verb, LIKE = “suka/menyukai”, and because it is a stative verb, so like is not used in tenses which is not progressive/continuous.

Subject + LIKE + noun/pronoun

Subject + LIKE + infinitive

Subject + LIKE + gerund

The pattern above are in simple present. In another non-progressive tenses, we add auxialary before LIKE (ex: will like, may like, would have liked, had liked, dst.)

Examples:

1. I like her because she is not talkative. (Aku suka dia karena dia tidak cerewet)
2. I would not like her if she were talkative. (Aku tidak akan suka dia jika dia cerewet). Unreal conditional dari fakta di kalimat 1.
3. He likes his new car. (Dia suka mobil barunya)
4. Most of us like to watch football. (Kebanyakan dari kita suka nonton sepakbola)
5. Most of us like watching football. (Kebanyakan dari kita suka nonton sepakbola)

NOTE:

Verb LIKE can be followed by infinitive or gerund, and the meaning is same. (ex 3&4).

b. WOULD LIKE + INFINITIVE

to express willingness, WANT (= ingin), it is more polite if we use WOULD LIKE (’d like).

Examples:

1. I want to go out with you tonight. (Aku ingin jalan-jalan dengan kamu malam ini).
2. He wants to meet you, sir. (Dia ingin bertemu denganmu, pak).
3. Kedua kalimat ini menjadi lebih sopan kalau kita bilang:
4. I would like to go out with you tonight. (Aku ingin jalan-jalan dengan kamu malam ini).
5. He’d like to meet you, sir. (Dia ingin bertemu denganmu, pak).

NOTE: WANT can be followed noun/pronoun, but WOULD LIKE can’t.

1. I want her.  CORRECT.
2. I would like her. INCORRECT kalau kita bermaksud mengekspresikan “Aku ingin/mau dia”, karena kalimat ini bermakna “Aku akan suka dia”. (Lihat Examples a.2. di atas).

c. LIKE as adjective

As an adjective, LIKE is the synonim of similar = akin = mirip/serupa.

Examples:

1. I have a like experience. (Aku punya pengalaman yang serupa).
2. We can apply this procedure in like situations. (Kita dapat menerapkan prosedur ini dalam situasi-situasi yang serupa).

NOTE: the use of LIKE as adjective is rarely used, so although the pattern is correct, but it sounds strange.

d. LIKE as  preposition, adverb, conjunction

As a preposition (kata depan), adverb (kata keterangan), or conjunction (kata sambung), LIKE means seperti. The use of LIKE as  preposition, adverb, conjunction are informal, so it would be better if we just use it in speaking.  In formal situation, we should use AS.

Example:

1. I have an experience like yours. (Aku punya sebuah pengalaman seperti pengalamanmu). Sebagai preposition karena diikuti oleh pronoun.
2. Your experience is like mine. (Pengalamanmu adalah seperti pengalamanku). Sebagai preposition karena diikuti oleh pronoun.
3. Does the one in the video look like Luna Maya? (Apakah orang di video itu mirip/tampak seperti  Luna Maya?) Sebagai preposition karena diikuti oleh noun.
4. Although she is actually 40 years old, she is like 25 years old. (Walaupun dia sebenarnya berumur 40 tahun, dia seperti 25 tahun). Sebagai adverb karena diikuti oleh adjective.
5. Like I said earlier, I’d like to go out with you tonight. (Seperti aku bilang tadi, aku ingin jalan-jalan denganmu malam ini). Sebagai conjunction karena diikuti oleh clause “I said earlier”; Lawan katanya adalah unlike.
6. To be able to speak like native English speakers do needs a lot of practice and patience. (Agar dapat berbicara seperti bule membutuhkan latihan dan kesabaran yang tinggi). Sebagai conjunction karena diikuti oleh clause “native English speakers do”.
7. It looks like it is going to rain. (Tampaknya sepertinya akan hujan). Sebagai conjunction.

f. LIKE As noun.

The use of Like as noun, LIKE generally following possessive adjective or the. If it follows possessive adjective, like = kesukaan; while if it follows the, like = sejenisnya.

Examples:

1. This is a list of my likes and this one is that of my dislikes. (Ini adalah daftar hal (yang menjadi) kesukaanku dan yang ini adalah daftar hal (yang menjadi) ketidaksukaanku).
2. As a farmer, my father grows rambutans, durians, mangoes, and the like. (Sebagai seorang petani, ayahku bercocok tanam rambutan, durian, mangga dan sejenisnya).

g. LIKE As interjection.

When speaking, people use LIKE to start their sentence, to fill “pause” when stop speaking (for example, because of thinking for a while), to express uncertainty. In this case, like has function as (interjection) and don’t neet to be translated.

Examples:

1. Like, why didn’t you tell me? (Kenapa kamu tidak memberitahu aku?)
2. I’m, um like, a senior high school student. (Aku, …,  seorang murid SMA).
3. She is a, like, very nice person. (Dia, …, orang yang sangat baik hati).

h. LIKE As suffix.

Suffix -like is sometimes added to noun (kata benda) and noun-like have function as adjective.

Examples:

1. We call it “ginjal” in Indonesian but I don’t know what the name of this bean-like organ is in English (Kami menyebutnya “ginjal” dalam bahasa Indonesia tetapi aku tidak tahu apa nama organ yang mirip biji kacang ini dalam bahasa Inggris).
2. His businessman-like appearance has perfectly disguised himself from the fact that he is a wanted criminal. (Penampilannya yang mirip seorang pengusaha telah dengan sempurna menutupi kedoknya dari fakta bahwa dia seorang penjahat yang dicari-cari polisi)

i. Likely

Likely can be function as adjective and adverb. As adjective, likely = mungkin sekali/kemungkinan besar dan menjanjikan.

Examples:

1. Brazil against Chile will start in an hour. I think Brazil is likely to win the game. (Brazil lawan Chili akan dimulai satu jam lagi. Aku kira Brazil berpeluang besar memenangkan pertandingan itu).
2. He is a likely young football player. (Dia adalah seorang pemain sebakbola muda yang menjanjikan).

As adverb, likely = perhaps = probably = presumably = possibly = maybe = mungkin.

1. Brazil against Chile will start in an hour. I think Brazil will likely win the game. (Brazil lawan Chili akan dimulai satu jam lagi. Aku kira Brazil mungkin akan memenangkan pertandingan itu).
2. Likely Jeny was sick last night. (Mungkin Jeny sakit tadi malam).

B. ALIKE

Alike can be functioned as adjective and adverb.

a. ALIKE sebagai adjective

Sebagai adjective, alike generally used to explain/modifies noun or pronoun which as sentence subject.

Subject + linking verb + ALIKE

Examples:

1. Your experience and mine are alike. (Pengalamanmu dan pengalamanku mirip).
2. Do Luna Maya and the one in the video look alike? (Apakah Luna Maya dan orang yang di video itu tampak mirip?).
3. For me, red wine and white wine taste alike. (Bagiku, anggur merah dan anggur putih rasanya mirip).

NOTE: The pattern alike + noun is used rarely.

b. ALIKE As adverb.

As adverb,  alike explain/modifies non-linking verb.

Subject + linking verb + ALIKE

In this case, alike = similarly or  equally.

Examples:

1. Parents should treat their children alike. (Orang tua seharusnya memperlakukan anak-anaknya serupa/dengan adil).
2. Becauase Rini and Rene are twins, they walk and talk alike. (Karena Rini dan Rene kembar, mereka berjalan dan berbicara dengan cara yang mirip).
3. The two criminals were sentenced alike. (Kedua penjahat ini dijatuhi hukuman yang  sama).