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"Not the same as" and "not the same like" sound both strange to me (non-native speaker). Google finds both versions. Are both okay?

Is this phrasing used anyway or would people go for "different than/to"?

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  • The proposed English Language Learners site might be of interest to you and appropriate for this question. You can sign up to follow the proposal and can submit sample questions, which have several purposes: being examples of what might be asked; evoking topical/not topical discussions; marking progress of the group (it won't happen until enough questions are voted up).
    – James Waldby - jwpat7
    Aug 27, 2012 at 21:14

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The usage stats from the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) look as follows:

                        BNC    COCA

  not the same as       255     888
  not the same like       0       0

Google is not the best tool to determine what a native speaker would actually say.

As to "different than" vs. "different from" vs. "different to", see this question.

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  • Convincing! Thanks for those sources. Those are great!
    – Emanuel
    Aug 24, 2012 at 11:52
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Native speakers of English language say "the same as" (not "the same like"): "James is the same age as David", "David's salary is the same as mine", and go on. And the word "not" before the article "the" does not change that pattern.

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  • I think Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish people do too.
    – Barrie England
    Aug 24, 2012 at 11:54
  • I've only heard "the same like" from Cantonese friends.
    – Wudang
    Aug 24, 2012 at 12:02
  • Sorry I meant friends whose native language is Cantonese speaking Chinese Pidgin English.
    – Wudang
    Aug 24, 2012 at 12:06

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