7.5 As, like

There are situations in which as and like are interchangeable, e.g.:

English people eat a lot at Christmas, as/like Catalans do.

However, when as and like are prepositions, they have a different meaning. Compare, e.g.:

Sharon works as a translator. (Sharon trabaja como traductora.)

Pamela sings like a professional. (Pamela canta como una profesional.)

In the first of these examples, Sharon is a translator; in the second, Pamela is not a professional singer, but she sings in a way similar to professional singers.

Consequently, if we rewrite the first sentence without the verb do, we can only use like:

English people eat a lot at Christmas, like Catalans. (Los ingleses comen mucho por Navidad, como los catalanes.)

We cannot say: ‘‘English people eat a lot at Christmas, as Catalans’’, because English people are not Catalans.

	See main verbs and auxiliary verbs.