Structure
Verb + みたいに + Verb(1)
Noun + みたいに + Verb(1)
Noun(2) + みたいな + Noun
(1) Adverb、［い］Adjective、［な］Adjective
(2) Verb
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Standard
About みたいに・みたいな
As learned in our previous lesson about みたい, it is a な-Adjective. This means that it can be used in conjunction with nouns, or with verbs. In each of these cases, it will carry the meaning of 'like (A)', or 'resembling (A)'. The difference between みたい describing a verb or a noun can be identified by whether it is followed by な (describes a noun), or に (describes a verb). Let's take a look at some examples.
This difference is important to know, as (B), the thing that みたい is describing, does not always come directly after みたい.
In the second example sentence, we can see that 泳ぐ (the verb that に is linked to), does not actually come until later in the sentence. This is quite a regular occurrence, especially in longer passages.
Caution
Despite みたい meaning 'to resemble', and being based on (usually) visual stimulus, it should not be confused with 見たい 'to want to see'. This is a common mistake that learners make, as みたい itself does not have a kanji form.
Related
Examples
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私はあの女の人みたいになりたい。
I want to become like that woman.
それは城みたいな家です。
That is a castle-like house.
魚みたいに泳ぎたい。
I want to swim like a fish.
サンダルみたいに履きやすい。
They are easy to put on, just like sandals. (similar to)
お金持ちの人みたいな生活をしたい。
I want to live a life similar to a rich person.
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Noun+みたい+に & Noun+みたい+な
MaggieSensei
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みたいに・みたいな – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (26 in total)
Jake
like・similar to, resembling
Structure
- Noun/Verb + みたいに + Verb/いAdj
- Noun/Verb + みたいな + Noun
View on Bunpro
みたいな is the adjective form (it is used to modify nouns)
みたいに is the adverbial form (it is used to modify adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs)
みたい(だ) is the predicative form used at the end of a sentence.
みたいに(and ように) is used in general to show the similarity of something to something else in appearance or in a manner of doing something.
みたい（and ようだ） also has this use + conjecture(possibility of something) (Feedback - Sugg...
Sidgr
In the the example:
こういち みたいに 、日本語にほんごを教おしえたい。
What is みたい attaching to such that it adds the に connector rather than the な？
The Seemingly obvious answer is that it is 日本語 but then is should be な as that is the noun connector, yet it is not. Is it because it is a dangling phrase or that みたいに is the nutreal conncetor? any help would be appreciated.
mrnoone
Hey! Sorry for the late reply!
When you add に to なAdjective it will work like an adverb (adverbs can modify adjectives, adverbs and verbs).
So when みたいな modifies a noun, it describes similarity in appearance, and when it modifies a verb it describes similarity in a manner of doing something (but ように can also modify adjective to also describe similarity in appearance etc).
In this sentence, you have a noun 日本語 and verb 教える with auxiliary adjective たい to modify.
Japanese (language) in appearance similar to Koichi doesn’t really make sense.
But teaching Japanese (language) in the manner (like) as Koichi does makes one and that is what the speaker wants to express.
Is it clear now?
Sidgr
Yeah I think that clears it up, I will just have to see in through a few more reviews for it to sink in.
Pep95
For this item, the grammar point makes a distinction between
s1212z
We had a discussion the other day about this. Hopefully this will connect the two threads
Pep95
So am I correct in understanding from your post that this distinction is too strict?
s1212z
I reached out to a native for this one as there seems to be a lot of subtleties and they agreed with the BP slight distinction that みたい can a bit more visual while のよう leans towards characteristic (along with colloquial vs. more written difference). Therefore the distinction of “appearance of” and “manner of” work out well for specific instances but not confined to these meanings.
But I believe when used for meanings of “like” or “similar to” (probably the majority of the time), they are interchangeable. I could not get a distinct answer when not use “x” but must use “y” and my teacher also gave the green light to interchange them. The Maggie Sensei entry for みたい and のよう didn’t throw any exceptions either from what I skimmed with many interchange...
mrnoone
@Pep95 @s1212z
Hey! Sorry for the slow response
I have removed that part, it was an error. みたい and よう, as you said are basically identical. The よう being more formal, and よう having some other uses like “so that”, ように祈る、ようになる、ようにする where みたい doesn’t work.
It should be something like:
みたいな、ような -> appearance of (modifying nouns)
みたいに、ように -> in the manner of (modifying adverbs, adjectives, verbs)I am really sorry for the inconvenience it caused!
Kabukiman
What is the difference between the two?
mrnoone
Hey
みたいな is adjective form (it is used to modify nouns)
みたいに is adverbial form (it is used to modify adjectives, verbs and other advers)
みたい(だ) is the predicative form used at the end of a sentence.みたいに(and ように) is used in general to show the similarity of something to something else in appearance or in a manner of doing something.
みたい（and ようだ） also has this use + conjecture(possibility of something) (Feedback - Suggested Improvements/Feature Request)
Kabukiman
Thank you. It might be a good idea to add that to their respective pages.
mrnoone
Done
Haruka
The discussion link from みたいに should probably link here. Currently it takes to a topic on てすみません.
mrnoone
I will do something about it!
PS
Your avatar is actually amazing >.<Haruka
Thank you!
rever4217
Couldn’t this sentence be also taken as “I want to be like that woman”?
mrnoone
Hey and welcome on the community forums
てほしい is only used for what we wish/demand from other people.
So:
(あなたに)この女みたいになってほしい
I want you to become like that woman.If you want to speak about your own wishes you have to use: たい or Nounがほしい
私はあの女の子みたいになりたい。
I want to become like that woman.ドクロストーンがほしいよ。
I want dokuro stone(item from anime - yattaman).I hope it helps and if you have more questions feel free to ask,
CheersPS
This is a bit more advan...rever4217
I see, thank you!
CrisH
On the main page for this it says you can get the structure Verb + みたいに, but there aren’t any examples of this form, as far as I can tell. What would that construction be used for? Would it be used to say something like “His walking is like running for other people”?
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