～のように and ～と同じくらい

[cheapshot]

i recently came across these expressions of comparison as i was teaching some students about "simile" and i wanted to create some simile in Japanese to help them.
here is what i came up with
今日は地獄と同じくらい暑いです。 today is at hot as hell
～～～せんべいと同じくらいぺちゃんこ。 ~~as flat as a senbei (rice cake)
ニュースを聞いた時、彼のかおはゆうれいと同じくらい白くなった。 - when he heard the news, his face went as white as a ghosts.
i showed my attempts at simile to the japanese teacher to check and she corrected the hird in this way:
ニュースを聞いた時、彼のかおはゆうれいのように白くなった。
i checked this in my grammar book and dictionary and found out that it means "like a~~" such as.. 彼はチーターのように走った。 -- he ran like a cheetah
so i asked her why she corrected it and said that in English (well, the english i use anyway) we say "as white as a ghost". "like a ghost" just doesn't sound right to me.
so, she couldn't explain the difference, but she asked me to think about English and why we use certain ways rather than others. so that's what i have done...
i have come up with a few (albeit silly or cliched) simile to test my theory...
compare:
1/this chicken is like a cheetah.
2/this chicken is fast like a cheetah.
3/this chicken is as fast as a cheetah.
1/my love for you is like and ocean.
2/my love for you is deep like an ocean.
3/my love for you is as deep as an ocean.
1/his face went like a ghost.
2/his face went white like a ghost.
3/his face went as white as a ghost.
ok. time to explain
1/ ====== vague
2/ ====== indirect comparison
3/ ====== direct comparison
if we take the ghost simile for example.
1/ "his face went like a ghosts" -- in what way? ugly, translucent, white..? there is an adjective missing which makes the simile very vague.
2/ "his face went white like a ghosts" for me this implies that his face went as white for a human as a ghosts face is white for a ghost. it is more of an indirect comparison. so i feel like the sentence could be "his face went white like a ghosts face (is white)
3/ "his face went as white as a ghosts" Here i feel that this is a direct comparison between the whiteness of a ghost and the guys face. (but this expression is still metaphorical so i am a little confused :S)
i hope i still have people reading... anyway, i 'll continue...
so if we go back to the original "his face went as white as a ghosts".. i would like to know why i can't use と同じくらい in japanese, i have to use ～～のように instead.
so basically i feel that as _____ as is the strongest of the three examples. but in Japanese i don't feel that you can use the three expressions in all situations.
can anyone shed a bit of light on these to expressions for me?
yorkii
(sorry for the length of this thread. i should have just asked the difference instead of giving all the background. sorryyy....)

 

[Damicci]

discussion on ような
Grammar nuances | Japan Forum
～同じくらい Maybe more for saying to things are similar.
例えば：
「たくさん」と「おおい」の意味は同じくらいと思います。
I think the meaning of "alot" and "many" are about the same.

Maybe the only difference is word preference.
check out this site:
Jim's Japanese Grammar Summary

 

[Elizabeth]

discussion on ような
Grammar nuances | Japan Forum
～同じくらい Maybe more for saying to things are similar.
例えば：
「たくさん」と「おおい」の意味は同じくらいと思います。
I think the meaning of "alot" and "many" are about the same.

同じくらい isn't metaphorical, as you note, it either makes a clear comparison
私はあなたと同じくらい日本語が上手です。Or with unnamed subjects can implicitly suggest an "as....as" contrast 私だって同じぐらい速く走られています。
(I can run as fast (as....XYZ).

 

[cheapshot]

同じくらい isn't metaphorical, as you note, it either makes a clear comparison
私はあなたと同じくらい日本語が上手です。Or with unnamed subjects can implicitly suggest an "as....as" contrast 私だって同じぐらい速く走られています。
(I can run as fast (as....XYZ).

thanks for that elizabeth. i had an idea that と同じくらい was not used in any metaphorical context...

 

[Glenn]

私だって同じぐらい速く走られています。

That should be 走れます.

 

[Elizabeth]

That should be 窶倪?凪?堙ｪ窶堙懌?堋ｷ.

Yeah, you're right. I was half asleep at the time and writing on the fly.

 

[Damicci]

So what is the difference? As far as I can both can be used for comparing except と同じくらい has a more direct comparison X and Y are the same
and ような・ように has more of a "comparrison amongst other things" feel.
gah so confusing....

Thanks Elizabeth. Your response caused to me to further research the usage and boy is my sentence incorrect.

 

[Elizabeth]

So what is the difference? As far as I can both can be used for comparing except と同じくらい has a more direct comparison X and Y are the same
and ような・ように has more of a "comparison amongst other things" feel.
gah so confusing....

Thanks Elizabeth. Your response caused to me to further research the usage and boy is my sentence incorrect.

「ほとんど同じ」「ほぼ同じ」「だいたい同じ」の意味はほとんど同じですね。
でも、「ほぼ」はすこし違う感じがするので友達同士ではあまり使わらないとおもいます。

もちろん、もちろん、「ほとんどぐらい」とか「ほぼぐらい」という言い方はおかしいですね。

 

[Elizabeth]

So what is the difference? As far as I can both can be used for comparing except と同じくらい has a more direct comparison X and Y are the same
and ような・ように has more of a "comparison amongst other things" feel.
gah so confusing....

「ように」は seems, appears like で、「同じぐらい」なら 実際は、is as much as みたいな
意味で使われうんです。

 

[Damicci]

あ！ 私は前それと思いました。 よかった！ 私は教え方を思いませんでした。
でも、今私は確かに分かります。
ほんとうありがとうございました。 ｍ－＿－ｍ