• What a beautiful house! It's like a palace, (not 'as a palace')

• 'What does Sandra do?'    'She's a teacher, like me.' (not 'as me')

• Be careful! The floor has been polished. It's like walking on ice. (not 'as walking')

• It's raining again. I hate weather like this, (not 'as this')

In these sentences, like is a preposition. So it is followed by a noun (like a palace), a pronoun (like me / like this) or -ing (like walking).

You can also say 'like (somebody/something) doing something':

• 'What's that noise?' 'It sounds like a baby crying.'

Sometimes like = 'for example':

• Some sports, like motor racing, can be dangerous.

You can also use such as (= for example):

• Some sports, such as motor racing, can be dangerous.

We use as (not 'like') before a subject + verb:

• I didn't move anything. I left everything as I found it.

• They did as they promised. (= They did what they promised.)

Compare like and as in these sentences:

• You should have done it like this. (like + pronoun)

• You should have done it as I showed you. (as + subject + verb)

We also say as you know / as I said / as she expected / as I thought etc.:

• As you know, it's Tom's birthday next week. (= you know this already)

• Jane failed her driving test, as she expected. (= she expected this before)

Note that we say as usual / as always:

• You're late as usual.

As can also be a preposition but the meaning is different from like. Compare:

As

• Brenda Casey is the manager of a company.

As the manager, she has to make many important decisions.

('As the manager' = in her position as the manager)

• During the war this hotel was used as a hospital, (so it really was a hospital)

Like

• Mary Stone is the assistant manager.

Like the manager (Brenda Casey), she

also has to make important decisions.

('Like the manager' = similar to the manager)

• Everyone is ill at home. Our house is like a hospital, (it isn't really a hospital)

Intermediate
English exercise "Like and as" created by felin (11-11-2005) with The test builder
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1. Your English is very fluent. I wish I could speak as like you.
2. Don't take my advice if you don't want to. You can do as like you like.
3. You waste too much time doing things as like sitting in cafes all day.
4. I wish I had a car as like yours.
5. There's no need to change your clothes. You can go out as like you are.
6. My neighbour's house is full of interesting things. It's as like a museum.
7. I think I prefered this room as like it was, before we decorated it.
8. When we asked Sue to help us, she agreed immediately, as like I knew she would.
9. Sharon has been working as like a waitress for the last two months.
10. While we were on holiday, we spent most of our time doing energetic things as like sailing, water skiing and swimming.
11. You're different from the other people I know. I don't know anyone as like you.
12. We don’t need all the bedrooms in the house, so we use one of them as like a study.
13. as like her father, Catherine has a very good voice.
14. The news that Sue and Jim were getting married came as like a complete surprise to me.
15. At the moment I've got a temporary job in a bookshop. It's OK as like a temporary job but I wouldn't like to do it permanently.