"like" vs "as if"

[dcseain]

He looked like he was happy.
He looked as if he were happy.


Are 'like' and 'as if', as used above, synonyms?

Discuss, and please provide your native, or first-learned, dialect of English.

Comments

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

I do get what you are saying.

The dialect i grew up with always requires the subjunctive - whether past or present - after 'as if', but 'like' only requires the subjunctive if there be doubt, conjecture, contrariness to fact, or sometimes supposition. Under those same rules, if 'as if' can be followed by an indicative, one ought use 'like' instead.

Some time in the late 70s or early 80s, i started hearing 'was' instead of 'were', usually, but not always, from Northerners and younger people. Oddly, the present subjunctive seems to be holding strong, at least in the construction "May you be x.". I wonder why that, yet the past subjunctive seems to be in its death throws.

For a tad of background, my partner, who grew up at the other end of the county i did, was insisting that 'like' and 'as if' are the same. I, on the other hand, agree wholeheartedly with dmlaenker's "Like, as if" comment above.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

"Like" and "as if" are not, and never have been, interchangeable.

Yes, we agree on that count.

Like vs as - Those are basically interchangeable to me, in the presented context, though 'as' carries a bit more emphasis. The 'as' usage seems more British than North American to me, but not significantly so.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[palmwiz.livejournal.com]

The dialect i grew up with always requires the subjunctive - whether past or present - after 'as if'

Likewise. I too will use 'like' for verbs as well nouns, but I won't use 'as' for nouns, only verbs, so they're not quite interchangeable.