I take parts of speech very seriously. I learned them at a very young age playing Mad Libs. My favorite is probably the adverb, although I know they should be used sparingly. See what I did there?
Aside from Mad Libs and making clever literary moves, there’s another reason why knowing these intricacies comes in handy: when contemplating the difference between like and love.
Like and love fit into a couple different parts of speech. “Like” is, of course, an affectation. But before that, it’s a verb: I like to write, he doesn’t like to play Mad Libs, etc.
“Love” is both a noun, an abstract noun to be specific, and a verb. In other words, love is a concept and an action.
If like and love are both verbs, then what separates them? Is love a more extreme version of like? I don’t think so.
I think what distinguishes like and love is that like is passive, whereas love is active.
When you like something or someone, that’s simply your opinion. Loving is a whole other ballgame. Love must be demonstrated in order to be valid. I used to say a version of this to a guy I was with a lifetime ago.
It’s hard for my serially single self to imagine this, but once upon a time I had a guy tell me he loved me on more than one occasion. The problem was, he would constantly postpone our plans or downright cancel them, showing me his money wasn’t where his mouth was.
It’s definitely a tough pill to swallow. Ready for a cliche sandwich? Actions speak louder than words. If a guy says he loves you but he never wants to spend time with you, I have some unfortunate news for you, and I hope you’re sitting down.
At some point, we’ll get to why I put up with a guy who I knew didn’t love me, which I’ll admit might be a better subject than like versus love, but I’m almost done with this installment now, and I can’t be bothered to rewrite.
I’m mostly kidding.
I have one more thing to put in. It’s not necessarily related to passive and active words, but it’s an important distinction. Aside from food preferences, I think liking something or someone is a choice and love is not.
Take someone’s parents, for example. Most people love their parents — it’s innate. Liking your parents is not guaranteed, but my opinion is that my parents are rad and I enjoy spending time with them.
I don’t think I totally nailed it, if I’m being honest. I think I might need to ponder this further. But, one thing is for certain: I love you, my darling readers!
Sylvie Slotkin is a Medill junior. She can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
