be like

Have a similar appearance, quality, or behavior to someone or something.

• You are like your brother.
• The cake was like soft bread.
• Are the new houses like the old ones?

How to use it: be like someone/something (Her voice is like her mother’s.)

Similar words: resemble, be similar to

Common phrases: be like someone, be like something

Used when telling a story to introduce what someone said.

• He was like, “Hi!”
• I was like, “Please give me a minute.”
• Then she was like, “Did you really win?”

How to use it: be like + quoted speech (She was like, “Where have you been?”)

Similar words: say, go

Common phrases: be like no way, be like thank you

Feel or seem as though a particular situation were true or happening.

• It was like a dream.
• Listening to him was like traveling back in time.
• When she returned, it was like she had never left.

How to use it: be like doing something (Staying there was like living in a palace.); be like + clause (It was like nobody had noticed the change.)

Similar words: be as though, be as if

Common phrases: be like a dream, be like living abroad

Be the kind of action or behavior that someone usually shows.

• It is like him to complain.
• It was just like Anna to remember everyone’s birthday.
• That is not like you. You usually arrive early.

How to use it: be like someone to do something (It is like her to help without being asked.)

Similar words: be typical of, be characteristic of

Common phrases: be like someone, just be like someone