like-vs-as-t1517.html
From this thread I picked from pooja's post that:
There is just one exception (that I have come across) to the idiomatic constructions using the verb "act", where one has to infer the meaning before using "as/like". "Act as" is used when a function of an inanimate object is described. Eg. In the flood, the wall acted as a dam. However, "act" is followed by like to mean to behave or comport oneself and describes the action of a person. Eg. He acted like a fool
For which I am a bit suspecting.In MGMAT SC it has been mentioned that this use(what pooja described) of act as/act like is wrong(in idioms section,chapter 9).Instead of its more to metaphorical or actual comparison.
Please clarify as later in the same post it was endorsed by GMAT staff itself.
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- parveenjain
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- parveenjain
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Re: more on as Vs like
the given link is:
http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/like-vs-as-t1517-30.html#p38992
http://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/like-vs-as-t1517-30.html#p38992
- mschwrtz
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
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Re: more on as Vs like
The only portion of pooja's post inconsistent with the entry on "act" in our Strategy Guide is his use of the phrase "and describes the action of a person." Was his use of this phrase endorsed by MGMAT staff in the thread to which you refer? I just read the thread twice, and I don't think so.
CORRECT: "The peaks act like rocks." This is metaphorical. See #65 from the OG to confirm. The peaks do not function as a rocks, they perform the same function in the air as rocks do in the water.
Now, I want to consider a few minutiae, just to anticipate questions, but don't lose sight of the critical point: the account in the SG is all that you should need for the GMAT.
Okay, on to minutiae.
Part of the reason this is difficult to follow is that Standard Written English is stricter about this than is nonstandard English. Another reason, though, is that even in SWE, "acts like" can be used more freely when describing people than when describing inanimate objects. When we write that someone "acts like a fool," we may intend no metaphor whatsoever. When we write that someone "acts like dog," we surely do intend a metaphor. On the other hand, when we write that "some inanimate object acts like any noun," that has to be metaphorical.
(British English, Black Vernacular English, and the spoken English of the American South preserve a usage frowned upon by SWE: "act a fool." Ludacris fans may be familiar with this usage. I offer this only as a curiosity, since GMAT question are based on American SWE.)
Even when writing about people, we still want to use "acts as" when we're describing functions:
CORRECT: "My cat acts like a dog."="My cat behaves as though she is a dog." This is metaphorical.
CORRECT: "My cat acts as a bulwark against the rising tide of my despair."="My cat functions as a bulwark against the rising tide of my despair."
And yes, my cat is a person, grammatically.
CORRECT: "The peaks act like rocks." This is metaphorical. See #65 from the OG to confirm. The peaks do not function as a rocks, they perform the same function in the air as rocks do in the water.
Now, I want to consider a few minutiae, just to anticipate questions, but don't lose sight of the critical point: the account in the SG is all that you should need for the GMAT.
Okay, on to minutiae.
Part of the reason this is difficult to follow is that Standard Written English is stricter about this than is nonstandard English. Another reason, though, is that even in SWE, "acts like" can be used more freely when describing people than when describing inanimate objects. When we write that someone "acts like a fool," we may intend no metaphor whatsoever. When we write that someone "acts like dog," we surely do intend a metaphor. On the other hand, when we write that "some inanimate object acts like any noun," that has to be metaphorical.
(British English, Black Vernacular English, and the spoken English of the American South preserve a usage frowned upon by SWE: "act a fool." Ludacris fans may be familiar with this usage. I offer this only as a curiosity, since GMAT question are based on American SWE.)
Even when writing about people, we still want to use "acts as" when we're describing functions:
CORRECT: "My cat acts like a dog."="My cat behaves as though she is a dog." This is metaphorical.
CORRECT: "My cat acts as a bulwark against the rising tide of my despair."="My cat functions as a bulwark against the rising tide of my despair."
And yes, my cat is a person, grammatically.
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