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Is the word "like" a preposition or verb in the sentence "You made me like this."

Any suggestions appreciated. Thank you!

Jasper
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Zoltan King
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    It is ambiguous between verb and adjective, but not preposition. In the sense "find agreeable", it is a verb with "this" as direct object. By contrast, where the meaning is "resemble" it is an adjective. Note that "like" can be a preposition in, for example, "Like his brother, he went to Oxford University", where it is head of the adjunct "like his brother". – BillJ Dec 08 '16 at 10:55
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    @BillJ: I can see a meaning for "like" as a preposition meaning, roughly, "similar to"; the entire prepositional phrase would then serve as a predicate adjective. I don't see how the word "like" [rather than the prepositional phrase] would behave as an adjective in this sentence, however. If the sentence had been "Garlic made them like zombies", however, it could be a verb or preposition as in the original, but also an adjective "Most zombies were identical, except for the green zombies. The green ones were changed by an herb, however: garlic made them like [identical] zombies". – supercat Dec 08 '16 at 17:39
  • @supercat PPs don't serve as predicative adjectives; they serve as adjuncts, modifiers or complements. A like phrase is either a PP or an AdjP; it can hardly be both at the same time can it! When "like" is used with the meaning "resemble", it is an adjective, not a prep; it heads an AdjP functioning as PC. Prepositional "like" is quite different; it doesn't mean resemble. For example, in "Like his father, John went to Oxford", "like" doesn't mean that John was like his father but that John went to Oxford, just as his father had. Can you see the distinction? – BillJ Dec 08 '16 at 18:09
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    @BillJ: Are you suggesting that "like" is an adjective modifying "this"? That would seem an odd construct. Are there other adjectives that could behave likewise? – supercat Dec 08 '16 at 19:20
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    @supercat No, I think it's better to say that "like" is head of the AdjP with "this" as an obligatory complement. In the adjectival reading of "You made me like this", "me" is direct object and the AdjP "like this" is objective predicative complement. It ascribes the property of being "like this" to the direct object "me", cf "He made me happy". Adjectival "like" and a couple of other adjectives like "due" and "worth" are transitive adjectives, i.e. they licence (require) an NP complement. – BillJ Dec 08 '16 at 20:10
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    @BillJ: I'm not familiar with grammatical deconstruction that attaches complements to adjectives, rather than regarding the words that require complements as a different part of speech (e.g. a preposition). What would be a good reference for distinguishing prepositions from such adjectives? – supercat Dec 08 '16 at 20:10
  • @supercat I'm not sure what you mean by a "good reference"? – BillJ Dec 08 '16 at 20:21
  • @BillJ: is it therefore your contention that 'into' is an adjective in the sentence "You made me into this."...? – CR Drost Dec 08 '16 at 21:46
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    @supercat You'll find that most but not all of what BillJ says on ELU and ELL is based on the theoretical framework and terminology laid out in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Huddleston & Pullum 2002), and you can usually find out more by referring to it. –  Dec 08 '16 at 22:04
  • @CR Drost No, why should it be? "Like" is clearly an adjective since it can be modified by "very", cf. "Ed is very like his father" and like many other adjectives, but quite unlike prepositions, it can be used in analytic comparisons, cf. "Kim is more like her mother than her sister". – BillJ Dec 08 '16 at 22:49
  • @BillJ: That argument commits two formal fallacies, which can be exposed if you reflect that "You made me very like this" sounds ungrammatical. That in-and-of-itself does not prove that this particular usage of "like" is not adjectival, of course: but it does suggest that your word "clearly" is hyperbole at best. Since you can substitute "like" with "into" in the sentence in question it's clear that the word is in a 'preposition-shaped' hole; what I'm unclear on is if it even makes sense to regard "like" as a preposition in the first place. – CR Drost Dec 08 '16 at 23:33
  • The point is that like many other adjectives, “like” submits to adverbial modification; if not by “very”, then by some other AdvP: “You made me very much like this”, “You made me just like this", "Kim is very (much) like her sister" and Ed is not too like his brother” are all fine. Those “like” phrases all relate to a predicand and hence are predicative AdjPs. And, as I said before, unlike prepositional "like", it has analytic comparatives, e.g. "Kim is more like her mother than her sister". In general, prepositions do not. – BillJ Dec 09 '16 at 12:47
  • By contrast, prepositional "like" is not related to a predicand. It also takes an NP complement, but it functions as head of an adjunct e.g. "Like his father, Ed became a teacher” where we understand the meaning to be Ed became a teacher, just has his father had’, not that Ed was like his father. – BillJ Dec 09 '16 at 12:47

2 Answers2

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Without context (or the pronunciation pattern), it's hard to tell. The sentence is ambiguous - it can very well be both.

"You made me like this." with "like" as a verb would mean "You forced me/caused me to enjoy this". For example:

- I thought you didn't like eggplant?
- You made me like this! Your cooking is amazing!

"You made me like this." with "like" as a preposition would mean "You caused me to become this kind of person". For example:

- You're so mean lately!
- You made me like this! You've always been mean to me!

The second usage is much more idiomatic, and the first is somewhat awkward, but both are valid.

Maciej Stachowski
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. –  Dec 08 '16 at 15:23
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    It is worth mentioning that these two sentences can be distinguished when spoken aloud, they will have an emphasis on different words: the former would be "you made me like this" (or "you made me like this"), the latter would be "you made me like this!* (or "you made me like this!"). – BradC Dec 08 '16 at 22:17
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    @BradC Not necessarily. It could be "You made me like this", in which like could be either verb or preposition. – Dawood ibn Kareem Dec 09 '16 at 12:29
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“Like” can mean “resemble” or “enjoy”, so You made me like this has two possible meanings:

  • (a) You made me into the person I am now, or
  • (b) You made me enjoy something.

For example:

(a) We fight all the time now. I find that I’m getting angry even at work. You made me like this.

or

(b) I never knew I liked asparagus until you started serving it with butter. You made me like this!

Looking at this dictionary entry, we can see that like can function as a verb, noun, preposition, adjective, or adverb, but, after examining the definitions, it looks to me like it’s functioning as a preposition in instance (a) and as a verb in instance (b). Therefore, the answer to your question really depends on the intended meaning of your sentence – which you haven’t specified.

J.R.
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