Question
Updated on
11 Aug 2022
- Japanese
-
English (UK)
Question about English (UK)
What is the difference between -ish and -like ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between -ish and -like ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
Answers
11 Aug 2022
Featured answer
- English (UK)
- English (US)
@Masachovi
They mean the same thing, but we tend to use one of them with certain words and the other one with certain words and they donât really follow any logic, except that they sound good.
Like, you can say that something is fish-like, but you would never ever say that something is fishish.
Or, itâs very common to say that the weather is warm-ish, but you wouldnât ever say that the weather is warmlike, unless you are deliberately trying to sound like a person from the 18th century.
So, itâs complicated, and like I said, it doesnât really follow any logic that can be explained other than â we think it sounds good.
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- English (UK)
- English (US)
@Masachovi
They mean the same thing, but we tend to use one of them with certain words and the other one with certain words and they donât really follow any logic, except that they sound good.
Like, you can say that something is fish-like, but you would never ever say that something is fishish.
Or, itâs very common to say that the weather is warm-ish, but you wouldnât ever say that the weather is warmlike, unless you are deliberately trying to sound like a person from the 18th century.
So, itâs complicated, and like I said, it doesnât really follow any logic that can be explained other than â we think it sounds good.
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- Japanese
@isthmus_x Thanks for the details.
Fishish and warmlike sound a little wierd even to me as a non-native speaker. Iâve never heard of them.
Fishish and warmlike sound a little wierd even to me as a non-native speaker. Iâve never heard of them.
- English (UK)
- English (US)
- Japanese
Let me allow to ask one more question about ish.
Is it natural/correct to use âishâ when you answer a question, meaning like âyeah, kind ofâ?
For example
A: âHowâs it going? Goodâ
B: âIshâ
A: âWhat color is it? Blue?â
B: âIshâ
Is it natural/correct to use âishâ when you answer a question, meaning like âyeah, kind ofâ?
For example
A: âHowâs it going? Goodâ
B: âIshâ
A: âWhat color is it? Blue?â
B: âIshâ
- English (UK)
- English (US)
@Masachovi
Good. Thatâs a very advanced understanding of how people actually talk.
Itâs incredibly common to hear little conversations like this one â
â how are things at work these days?
â oh, you know, normalâŠ. ISHâŠ
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- Japanese
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