Unit 3: Like this, like that
'Like' for preference and description
Select a unit
- 1 Nice to meet you!
- 2 What to wear
- 3 Like this, like that
- 4 The daily grind
- 5 Christmas every day
- 6 Great achievers
- 7 The Titanic
- 8 Travel
- 9 The big wedding
- 10 Sunny's job hunt
- 11 The bucket list
- 12 Moving and migration
- 13 Welcome to BBC Broadcasting House
- 14 New Year, New Project
- 15 From Handel to Hendrix
- 16 What's the weather like?
- 17 The Digital Revolution
- 18 A detective story
- 19 A place to live
- 20 The Cult of Celebrity
- 21 Welcome to your new job
- 22 Beyond the planets
- 23 Great expectations!
- 24 Eco-tourism
- 25 Moving house
- 26 It must be love
- 27 Job hunting success... and failure
- 28 Speeding into the future
- 29 Lost arts
- 30 Tales of survival
Session 4
In this session, we'll show you a game you can play with a friend to help you practise asking what something is like.
We'll also learn an informal use of the word like from a famous BBC radio presenter.
Session 4 score
0 / 8
- 0 / 1Activity 1
- 0 / 3Activity 2
- 0 / 4Activity 3
- 0 / 0Activity 4
Activity 2
Like, Nick Grimshaw...
Learn something about English from one of the most famous young radio presenters in the UK - Nick Grimshaw.
So far, we've learned how to use like as a preposition and as a verb.
But in spoken English you sometimes hear it used in a completely different way. For example:
It's, like, so confusing!
This is a very common way of speaking, especially for young, cool people like Nick Grimshaw.
But what does it mean? Let's take a closer look. And don't worry if you don't understand everything - the way he speaks is very quick and very informal!
Listen to the audio and complete the activity
I went to karaoke last night. So I, sort of, don't have any voice. At about midnight last night, when I was going home… I was with Caroline, who's my manager. Her job is to, like, look after me. At midnight last night I was tapping her on the shoulder, because I couldn't actually say her name, because my voice had gone. And I was like: "Caroline, Caroline. I've got no voice. I've got no voice whatsoever." She was like: "Ok, ok, ok. Let's figure this out. Let's have a glass of water." It was gone.
Download
Download this interview. (size 1MB)
To do
Nick Grimshaw presents The Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1. It's the most popular morning radio show for young people in the UK. He's telling a story about losing his voice after singing karaoke.
How many times do you hear him use the word like? Try the activity.
Like...?
3 Questions
What did Nick Grimshaw say?
Help
Activity
What did Nick Grimshaw say?
Hint
It's more than 2 and less than 4!Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
What did Nick Grimshaw say?
Hint
Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
What did Nick Grimshaw say?
Hint
Question 3 of 3
Excellent! Great job! Bad luck! You scored:
Next
That was fast, wasn't it? Don't worry if you are feeling confused. We'll explain this meanings of the word like on the next page!
Session Grammar
'Like' as a filler. Fillers are words or sounds that don't have a specific meaning. Instead, they allow the speaker more time to think.
"Her job is to, like, look after me...
"That's, like, so unfair!
He's, like, a really good guy.I wonder if I could, like, borrow your camera?
'Like' to mark reported speech. In other words, it's said before you quote somebody. The form is: to be + like.
"She was like: "Ok, ok, ok.""
When I told him about my new car, he was like: "I don't believe you!"
She asked if I wanted to go to the pub. I was like: "Yeah, that's cool. When shall we meet?"