Luke
- Sep 27, 2019
- 2 min read

For Students: Alternatives to Like

Updated: Mar 21

Like. I'm certain you like to use like a lot, and like is OK, but we have alternatives to like which we can use when we talk about our hobbies and interests. The next time you're telling someone about yourself, mix it up and start incorporating the like alternatives. Tell people you're into football, if that is what you're interested in, or tell them you're a fan of cooking in your free time if that's what you enjoy doing. These alternatives work in the same way. Saying I'm keen on tennis is exactly the same as saying I like tennis. Saying you're a fan of driving is exactly the same as saying you like driving. By using these alternatives of like, it will show our range of vocabulary and our ability to show we know how to use synonyms which carry the same meaning. But more importantly, it will give variation to our English and stop us from repeating the same word over and over again. The negatives work in the same way, I don't like tennis and I'm not into tennis are the same. But, sometimes we might want to express our dislikes in another way than saying you're not a fan of something, well we have set phrases for this too. I have zero interest in cricket expresses more than just a dislike. I can’ stand cricket expresses an even more powerful way of saying you don’t like something. I suppose we can look at I can’t stand and see it as a polite version of saying I hate. But what about when we are in the middle? We don’t like it and we don’t really dislike it. Well, we can say something like tennis is not for me which carries the meaning of I don't really dislike it, but no thanks. An idiom I often use is it’s not my cup of tea meaning the same along with it does nothing for me, and it’s not my thing to express that neutral feeling.

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You might be shouting at the screen 'where is fond of?' It isn’t here because we are in 2019. Fond of is a little old-fashioned and I’d recommend dropping it for the below alternatives.

I (ds)like…

I’m (not)a fan of...

I'm (not) into…

I'm (not) keen on..

I'm (not) interested in..

I (don’t) enjoy…

I can’t stand… (a strong dislike)

Note: all the above phrases need to follow a noun on an ING form.

I don’t like nor dislike a great deal

X is not for me

X is not my thing

X does nothing for me