different between you vs like

English

Alternative forms

• ye (archaic nominative, dialectal plural)
• ya, yah, yer, yeh, y', yo, yu, yuh (informal or eye dialect)
• -cha (informal, after /t/)
• -ja (informal, after /d/)
• u (informal, internet)
• yoo (eye dialect)
• yew (obsolete or eye dialect)
• youe, yow, yowe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English you, yow, ?ow (object case of ye), from Old English ?ow, ?ow (“you”, dative case of ??), from Proto-Germanic *iwwiz (“you”, dative case of *j?z), Western form of *izwiz (“you”, dative case of *j?z), from Proto-Indo-European *y?s (“you”, plural), *y??.

Cognate with Scots you (“you”), Saterland Frisian jou (“you”), West Frisian jo (“you”), Low German jo, joe and oe (“you”), Dutch jou and u (“you”), Middle High German eu, iu (“you”, object pronoun), Latin v?s (“you”), Avestan ????????? (v?, “you”), Ashkun iã (“you”), Kamkata-viri šo (“you”), Sanskrit ????? (y?yám, “you”)

See usage notes. Ye, you and your are cognate with Dutch jij/je, jou, jouw; Low German ji, jo/ju, jug and German ihr, euch and euer respectively. Ye is also cognate with archaic Swedish I.

Pronunciation

• (stressed)
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yo?o, IPA^(key): /ju?/
  • (General American) enPR: yo?o, IPA^(key): /ju/
  • (General Australian) enPR: yo?o, IPA^(key): /j??/
• • Rhymes: -u?
• (unstressed)
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yo?o, IPA^(key): /ju/
  • (General American, General Australian) enPR: y?, IPA^(key): /j?/
• Homophones: ewe, u, yew, yu, hew (in h-dropping dialects), hue (in h-dropping dialects)

When a word ending in /t/, /d/, /s/, or /z/ is followed by you, these may coalesce with the /j/, resulting in /t?/, /d?/, /?/ and /?/, respectively. This is occasionally represented in writing, e.g. gotcha (from got you) or whatcha doin'? (more formally What are you doing).

Pronoun

you (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective, possessive determiner your, possessive pronoun yours, singular reflexive yourself, plural reflexive yourselves)

1. (object pronoun) The people spoken, or written to, as an object. [from 9th c.]

   Both of you should get ready now.
2. (reflexive, now US colloquial) (To) yourselves, (to) yourself. [from 9th c.]
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Richard III:

     If I may counsaile you, some day or two / Your Highnesse shall repose you at the Tower [...].

   • 1611, Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. Genesis XIX:

     And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.

   • 1970, Donald Harington, Lightning Bug:

     ‘Pull you up a chair,’ she offered.
3. (object pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as an object. (Replacing thee; originally as a mark of respect.) [from 13th c.]
   • c. 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VIII:

     I charge you, as ye woll have my love, that ye warne your kynnesmen that ye woll beare that day the slyve of golde uppon your helmet.

4. (subject pronoun) The people spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Replacing ye.) [from 14th c.]

   You are all supposed to do as I tell you.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Are you excited? ? Yes, I am excited!

5. (subject pronoun) The person spoken to or written to, as a subject. (Originally as a mark of respect.) [from 15th c.]
   • c. 1395, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Clerk's Tale", Canterbury Tales, Ellesmere manuscript (c. 1410):

     certes lord / so wel vs liketh yow / And al youre werk / and euere han doon / þat we / Ne koude nat vs self deuysen how / We myghte lyuen / in moore felicitee [...].
6. (indefinite personal pronoun) Anyone, one; an unspecified individual or group of individuals (as subject or object). [from 16th c.]
   • 2001, Polly Vernon, The Guardian, 5 May 2001:

     You can't choose your family, your lovers are difficult and volatile, but, oh, you can choose your friends - so doesn't it make much more sense to live and holiday with them instead?

Usage notes

• Originally, you was specifically plural (indicating multiple people), and specifically the object form (serving as the object of a verb or preposition; like us as opposed to we). The subject pronoun was ye, and the corresponding singular pronouns were thee and thou, respectively. In some forms of (older) English, you and ye doubled as polite singular forms, e.g. used in addressing superiors, with thee and thou being the non-polite singular forms. In the 1600s, some writers objected to the use of "singular you" (compare objections to the singular they), but in modern English thee and thou are archaic and all but nonexistent and you is used for both the singular and the plural.
• Several forms of English now distinguish singular you from various marked plural forms, such as you guys, y'all, you-uns, or youse, though not all of these are completely equivalent or considered Standard English.
• The pronoun you is usually, but not always, omitted in imperative sentences. In affirmatives, it may be included before the verb (You go right ahead; You stay out of it); in negative imperatives, it may be included either before the don't, or (more commonly) after it (Don't you dare go in there; Don't you start now).
• Using you as a generic or gender-neutral pronoun may be considered too informal or even objectionable.
• See Appendix:English parts of speech for other personal pronouns.

Synonyms

• (subject pronoun: person spoken/written to):

  yer (UK eye dialect)

  plus the alternative forms listed above and at Appendix:English personal pronouns

• (subject pronoun: persons spoken/written to; plural): See Thesaurus:y'all
• (object pronoun: person spoken/written to): thee (singular, archaic), ye, to you, to thee, to ye
• (object pronoun: persons spoken/written to): ye, to you, to ye, to you all
• (one): one, people, they, them

Derived terms

Descendants

• Jamaican Creole: yuh

Translations

See you/translations § Pronoun.

See also

Determiner

you

1. The individual or group spoken or written to.

   Have you gentlemen come to see the lady who fell backwards off a bus?

2. Used before epithets, describing the person being addressed, for emphasis.

   You idiot!

   • 2015, Judi Curtin, Only Eva, The O'Brien Press (?ISBN):

     'You genius!' I shouted in Aretta's ear. 'You absolute genius! Why didn't you tell us you were so good?'

Derived terms

Translations

See you/translations § Determiner.

Verb

you (third-person singular simple present yous, present participle youing, simple past and past participle youed)

2. (transitive) To address (a person) using the pronoun you (in the past, especially to use you rather than thou, when you was considered more formal).
   • 1930, Barrington Hall, Modern Conversation, Brewer & Warren, page 239:

     Youing consists in relating everything in the conversation to the person you wish to flatter, and introducing the word “you” into your speech as often as possible.

   • 1992, Barbara Anderson, Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, Victoria University Press, page 272:

     Now even Princess Anne had dropped it. Sarah had heard her youing away on television the other night just like the inhabitants of her mother’s dominions beyond the seas.

   • 2004, Ellen Miller, Brooklyn Noir, Akashic Books, "Practicing":

     But even having my very own personal pronoun was risky, because it’s pretty tough to keep stopped-hope stopped up when you are getting all youed up, when someone you really like keeps promising you scary, fun, exciting stuff—and even tougher for the of that moment to remain securely devoid of hope, to make smart, self-denying decisions with Dad youing me—the long ooo of it broad and extended, like a hand.

Translations

See you/translations § Verb.

References

Japanese

Romanization

you

1. R?maji transcription of ??

See also

• y?

Karawa

Noun

you

1. water

References

• transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

Leonese

Etymology

From Old Leonese yo, from Vulgar Latin *eo, attested from the 6th century in Romance, from Latin ego, from Proto-Italic *eg?; akin to Greek ??? (egó), Sanskrit ???? (aham), all from Proto-Indo-European *é?h?.

Pronoun

you

1. I

See also

Mandarin

Romanization

you

1. Nonstandard spelling of y?u.
2. Nonstandard spelling of yóu.
3. Nonstandard spelling of y?u.
4. Nonstandard spelling of yòu.

Usage notes

• English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Middle English

Etymology 1

Pronoun

you

1. Alternative form of yow

Etymology 2

Pronoun

you

1. (chiefly Northern and East Midland dialectal) Alternative form of þou

Mirandese

Etymology

From Old Leonese you, from Vulgar Latin *eo, attested from the 6th century in Romance, from Latin ego.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jow/

Pronoun

you

1. I (the first-person singular pronoun)

Pouye

Noun

you

1. water

References

• transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66

Takia

Etymology

Borrowed from Bargam yuw and Waskia yu.

Noun

you

1. water

References

• Malcolm Ross, Andrew Pawley, Meredith Osmond, The Lexicon of Proto-Oceanic: The Culture and Environment (2007, ?ISBN

Terebu

Noun

you

1. fire

Further reading

• Malcolm Ross, Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia, Pacific Linguistics, series C-98 (1988)

English

Alternative forms

• lak

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?k, IPA^(key): /la?k/
• Rhymes: -a?k

Etymology 1

Verb from Middle English liken, from Old English l?cian (“to please; be sufficient”), from Proto-West Germanic *l?k?n, from Proto-Germanic *l?k?n? (“to please”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“image; likeness; similarity”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian liekje (“to be similar, resemble”), Dutch lijken (“to seem”), German Low German lieken (“to be like; resemble”), German gleichen (“to resemble”), Swedish lika (“to like; put up with; align with”), Norwegian like (“to like”), Icelandic líka (“to like”).

Noun from Middle English like (“pleasure, will, like”), from the verb Middle English liken (“to like”).

Verb

like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)

1. To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.

   Antonyms: dislike, hate, mislike

   • He may either go or stay, as he best likes.
2. (transitive, archaic) To please.
3. (obsolete) To derive pleasure of, by or with someone or something.
4. To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.

5. (obsolete) To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
6. (archaic) To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly.
7. To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.

   Synonyms: (British) fancy, enjoy, love

   Antonyms: dislike, hate, mislike
8. (obsolete) To liken; to compare.
9. (Internet, transitive) To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.

   Antonyms: unlike, dislike

10. (with 'would' and in certain other phrases) To want, desire. See also would like.

Usage notes

• In its senses of “enjoy” and “maintain as a regular habit”, like is a catenative verb; in the former, it usually takes a gerund (-ing form), while in the latter, it takes a to-infinitive. See also Appendix:English catenative verbs.
• Like is only used to mean “want” in certain expressions, such as “if you like” and “I would like”. The conditional form, would like, is used quite freely as a polite synonym for want.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

• like like
• would like

Translations

Noun

like (plural likes)

1. (usually in the plural) Something that a person likes (prefers).

   Synonyms: favorite, preference

   Antonyms: dislike, pet hate, pet peeve

2. (Internet) An individual vote showing support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet.

Translations

References

• like on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Adjective from Middle English like, lyke, from Old English ?el?? by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *gal?kaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”)

Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ?el??e (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *gal?kê, from Proto-Germanic *gal?kaz (“same, like, similar”).

Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like.

Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).

Adjective

like (comparative more like, superlative most like)

1. Similar.
   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 3, Landlord Edmund

     […] and this is not a sky, it is a Soul and living Face! Nothing liker the Temple of the Highest, bright with some real effulgence of the Highest, is seen in this world.
2. (obsolete) Likely; probable.
   • 1668, Robert South, The Messiah's Sufferings for the Sins of the People (sermon, March 20, 1668)

     But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• as like as not

Translations

Adverb

like (comparative more like, superlative most like)

1. (obsolete, colloquial) Likely.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 3

     DON PEDRO. May be she doth but counterfeit.

     CLAUDIO. Faith, like enough. [= Indeed, quite likely.]

2. (archaic or rare) In a like or similar manner.

   • Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

Noun

like (countable and uncountable, plural likes)

2. (sometimes as the likes of) Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
   • 1935, Winston Churchill on T.E. Lawrence

     We shall never see his like again.

3. (golf) The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.

Synonyms

• ilk

Antonyms

• antithesis, opposite

Derived terms

• like-for-like

Translations

Conjunction

like

1. (colloquial) As, the way.
   • 1966, Advertising slogan for Winston cigarettes

     Winston tastes good like a cigarette should

   • 1978, "Do Unto Others" by Bob Dylan

     But if you do right to me, baby

     I’ll do right to you, too

     Ya got to do unto others

     Like you’d have them, like you’d have them, do unto you

2. As if; as though.

Usage notes

• The American Heritage Dictionary opines that using like as a conjunction, instead of as, the way, as if, or as though, is informal; it has, however, been routine since the Middle English period. AHD4 says "Writers since Chaucer's time have used like as a conjunction, but 19th-century and 20th-century critics have been so vehement in their condemnations of this usage that a writer who uses the construction in formal style risks being accused of illiteracy or worse", and recommends using as in formal speech and writing. OED does not tag it as colloquial or nonstandard, but notes, "Used as conj[unction]: = 'like as', as. Now generally condemned as vulgar or slovenly, though examples may be found in many recent writers of standing."

Derived terms

• feel like, look like, seem like, sound like

Preposition

like

1. Similar to, reminiscent of.
2. Typical of

   It would be just like Achilles to be sulking in his tent.

3. Approximating

   Popcorn costs something like $10 dollars at the movies.

4. In the manner of, similarly to.

   He doesn't act like a president.

5. Such as

   It's for websites like Wikipedia.

6. As if there would be.

   It looks like a hot summer in Europe.

Synonyms

• (such as): for example, such as, (archaic) as

Antonyms

• unlike

Derived terms

• like a bull at a gate

Translations

Particle

like

1. (colloquial, Scotland, Ireland, Tyneside, Teesside, Liverpudlian) A delayed filler.

2. (colloquial) A mild intensifier.
   • 1972, Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts, December 1:

     [Sally Brown:] Christmas is getting all you can get while the getting is good.
     [Charlie Brown:] GIVING! The only real joy is GIVING!
     [Sally Brown, rolling her eyes:] Like, wow!

3. (colloquial) indicating approximation or uncertainty

4. (colloquial, slang) When preceded by any form of the verb to be, used to mean “to say” or “to think”; used to precede an approximate quotation or paraphrase.
   • 2006, Lily Allen, Knock 'Em Out

     You're just doing your own thing and some one comes out the blue,

     They're like, "Alright"

     What ya saying, "Yeah can I take your digits?"

     And you're like, "no not in a million years, you're nasty please leave me alone."

Synonyms

• (delayed filler): I mean, you know
• (mild intensifier): I mean, well, you know
• (indicating approximation or uncertainty): I mean, well, you know
• (colloquial: used to precede paraphrased quotations): be all, go

Usage notes

The use as a quotative is informal. It is commonly used by young people, and commonly disliked by older generations, especially in repeated use. It may be combined with the use of the present tense as a narrative. Similar terms are to go and all, as in I go, “Why did you do that?” and he goes, “I don't know” and I was all, “Why did you do that?” and he was all, “I don't know.” These expressions can imply that the attributed remark which follows is representative rather than necessarily an exact quotation; however, in speech these structures do tend to require mimicking the original speaker's inflection in a way said would not.

Excessive use of "like" as a meaningless filler is widely criticised.

Translations

Interjection

like

1. (Liverpudlian, Tyneside) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.

Etymology 3

From like (adverb) and like (adjective).

Verb

like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)

1. (chiefly dialectal, intransitive) To be likely.

References

• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ?ISBN
• like at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Kiel, Kile, kile, liek

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English like.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [l?j??]

Noun

like n (singular definite liket, plural indefinite likes)

1. (Internet) like

Verb

like (imperative like, infinitive at like, present tense liker, past tense likede, perfect tense har liket)

1. (Internet) like

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: likent, likes

Verb

like

1. first-person singular present indicative of liker
2. third-person singular present indicative of liker
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of liker
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of liker
5. second-person singular imperative of liker

German

Verb

like

1. inflection of liken:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Hawaiian

Etymology

From Proto-Eastern Polynesian *lite. Compare Maori rite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?li.ke/, [?like]

Verb

like

1. (stative) like, alike, similar

Derived terms

• ho?olike: to make things equal, to make things similar (less common)
• ho?oh?like: to make things equal, to make things similar (more common)

References

• “like” in the Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised and Enlarged Edition, University of Hawaii Press, 1986

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse líka

Verb

like (imperative lik, present tense liker, simple past likte, past participle likt)

1. to like

Etymology 2

Adjective

like

1. definite singular of lik
2. plural of lik

Etymology 3

Adverb

like

1. as, equally

Derived terms

• likefullt, like fullt
• likeledes
• likeså

References

• “like” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²li?k?/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse líka

Alternative forms

• lika

Verb

like (imperative lik or like, present tense likar or liker, simple past lika or likte, past participle lika or likt)

1. to like

Etymology 2

Adjective

like

1. definite singular of lik
2. plural of lik

Etymology 3

From Old Norse líka

Adverb

like

1. as, equally

2. just, immediately

References

• “like” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Scots

Etymology

From Old English l?cian (“to be pleasing”)

Verb

like (third-person singular present likes, present participle likin, past likit, past participle likit)

1. To like.
2. To be hesitant to do something.

3. To love somebody or something.

Adverb

like (not comparable)

1. like

Interjection

like

1. (South Scots) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.

Spanish

Etymology

From English like.

Noun

like m (plural likes)

1. (Internet slang) like

Swedish

Adjective

like

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of lik.

Noun

like c

1. match (someone similarly skillful)

Declension