Lesson 9. How to say, “like a noun” (noun 같은, 같이, 처럼)

The adjective 같다 (to be the same) can be used to express that a noun is like/the same as something else. The resemblance can be anything from looks, traits, personality etc. The constructions are slightly different and are as follows: 

Examples: 

이건 커피 같아요 – It looks like coffee.  

캐나다 영어는 미국 영어와 같아요. – Canadian English is the same as American English.

저희 선생님은 엄마 같아요 – My teacher is like my mum.  

지수네 동생 이름이 제 이름이랑  똑같아요. Jisoo’s younger sibling and I have the same name. 

NB: In some cases, it is more natural to use the adjective 똑같다 which means “to be exactly the same” (e.g., my brother and I are exactly the same – 형이 저하고 똑같아요).  

Additionally, both 같다’s adjective and adverb forms can be used to create more complex sentences.  

Adjective  : 같은

The adjective form of 같다, 같은 can be used as follows: 

NOUN 같은 noun 

noun like NOUN 

Examples: 

저희 아빠 같은 사람 – a person like my father

강아지 같은 고양이 – a cat that resemble/acts like a dog

부모님 같은 선생님 – A teacher that acts like a parent

NB: There is actually a slang word for a cat that resemble/acts like a dog, 개냥이 (개 + 고양이).  

Example Sentences :

저는 부모님 같은 선생님이 되고 싶어요.
I want to become a teacher who’s like a parent.

저희 아빠 같은 사람이랑 결혼하고 싶어요. (Person (이)랑/와/과/하고 결혼하다: to marry a person)
I want to marry a person who’s like my dad.

Adverb : 같이

The adverb form of 같다, 같이, can be used to describe verbs, adjectives or adverbs as follows: 

NOUN 같이 Verb/Adjective/Adverb 

Verb/Adjective/Adverb like a NOUN 

Examples: 
 

저도 엄마같이 예뻤으면 좋겠어요 – I wish I was beautiful like my mum. 

나도 이제부터 너같이 열심히 공부할 거야 – From now on, I will also study hard like you.  

제 동생은 어른인데 아직도 아기같이 행동해요. My younger sibling is an adult, but still acts like a baby.

처럼 can also be used interchangeably with같이. 

Examples: 

지금은 겨울인데 봄처럼 따뜻해요 – It’s winter now, but it’s warm like spring.  

저도 엄마처럼 예뻤으면 좋겠어요 – I wish I was beautiful like my mum. 

나도 너처럼 한국에 오래 살고 싶어. I want to live in Korea for a long time like you.

The word 마치 can also be used at the start of the construction to make this nuance clearer. The word doesn’t have any meaning on its own but rather gives the listener a quicker indication that you are going to be comparing one thing to something else. (English equivalent would be “just like.”) An example includes lyrics from BTS’s song “Butterfly”.  

마치 나비처럼 – (just) like a butterfly. 

같이 can also be used to mean “together”. Another word for this is 함께; however, this sounds more formal and sometimes even poetic.

When using 같이 in this way, it is normally used with particles (이)랑, 와/과 or 하고 meaning “with”.  

Examples: 

저랑 같이 저녁 드실래요? – Do you wanna eat dinner with me?  

친구들이랑 같이 영화 보러 갈 거예요. I will go watch a movie with friends. 

NB: A similar expression to briefly take note of at this stage is “as much as…”. This can be achieved by using the construction: 

NOUN +  만큼 / Verb-는 만큼

As much as NOUN 

(e.g., 저만큼 – as much as me; 원하는 만큼 – as much as you want) 

We will learn more about this in the Intermediate 1 course, but this is a quick summary.