みたいにLike, Similar to, Resembling

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(およ)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(み)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.