같이 vs 처럼 in Korean

Hello everyone, it’s your Korean teacher Jun. Today I brought a really nice answer for the question that many students are confused! It’s 같이 vs 처럼 in Korean! Today you will see what’s different between these 2 words and how to use it like a native Korean. This tutorial has been requested by @xovioxoo on Instagram! Follow @koreanjuninsta to see more many tutorials with audio examples! Of course, you can make your own tutorial request there too!

Warm Up Your Brain

Can you tell me what 같이 and 처럼 mean? Answer it in 5 seconds!

같이 Meaning in Korean

같이

[gachi]
Like / Such as / As

같이 is a post-position (same to preposition in English) or a conjunction. It’s used to describe something is same or similar. 같이 is a shortened form of ‘-와 같이’ which means ‘same to’, ‘similar to’

The National Institute of The Korean Language defines 같이 describe the following sentence or phrase or word is same or similar to the first sentence.

코끼리같이 보여요
It looks like an elephant

처럼 Meaning in Korean

처럼

[cheoreom]
Like / Such as / As

처럼 is also a post-position (same to preposition in English) or a conjunction. It’s used to describe something is same to similar.

The National Institute of The Korean Language defines 처럼 describe something is similar.

코끼리처럼 보여요
It looks like an elephant

같이 vs 처럼 in Korean

It’s really hard to tell what differences are there between those 2 words because they are almost same for the meaning. Both are used as a postpostion (preposition in English) and a conjunction and often translated to ‘like’, ‘as’, ‘such as’ as a preposition like ‘he is crying like a lion’. Since they have no big difference. Many students are confused about how to use them.

But, I can tell 같이 is more often used in a formal speech or text than 처럼. 처럼 is barely used for formal texts. It doesn’t mean 같이 isn’t used for casual conversations. Native Koreans use both often in casual situations.

However

Even National Institute of The Korean Language says they are technically same. Both are used very differently often. You can see the differences especially with 하다 verb (it happens very often with swear words).

Sometimes 처럼 sounds like ‘do or be like something acts or looks like’

개같이 해라
Do it like shit

개처럼 해라
Do it like a dog

How To Use

A: 사람처럼 움직일 거예요
It will move like a human
B: 좀 부자연스럽네요
It looks a bit unnatural

A: 바보처럼 굴지 마세요
Don’t act like a dummy
B: 바보아닌데요
I’m not a dummy

A: 바보같이 굴지 마세요
Don’t act like a dummy
B: 바보 맞는데요
But I’m a dummy

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Another Meaning of 같이

같이 also means ‘together’ as an adverb. You should remember it has a different meaning as an postposition / conjunction. If you hear 같이 in a very casual conversation, normally it means ‘together’ as an adverb.

저랑 같이 가요
Come with me together

Vocabulary Note

코끼리 [kokkiri] : elephant
보이다 [boida] : to look like / to be seen
개 [ge] : dog
하다 [hada] : do
사람 [saram] : human / mankind / human-being
움직이다 [umjigida] : to move
좀 [jom] : a little bit
부자연스럽다 [bu-jayeon-seureopda] : to be unnatural
바보 [babo] : fool / dummy (sounds cute)
굴다 [gulda] : act / bebave [informal]
아니다 [anida] : to be not / to be wrong
맞다 [matdda] : to be correct / to be right
랑 [rang] : with
같이 [gachi] : together [adverb]