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I have some confusion about the grammar of the following sentence:

"He was performing the same steps like her/hers/as she/her/hers.

What should be the actual correct sentence structure here?

  1. He was performing the same steps like her.
  2. He was performing the same steps as she
  3. He was performing the same steps like hers.

My intuition says it could be either "He was performing the same steps as she(was)" or "He was performing the same steps like her" since I read somewhere that "as" is used whenever there is some hidden verb in a sentence. In this case, it's "perform". For example: "He can't play cricket as he used to". And "like", a preposition, is always used whenever there is a comparison between things/people etc.

Please help me get rid of this confusion. Thank you very much.

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I did some research and came to several potential conclusions, depending on exactly what the author of your book intended. I'll share what I found and let you decide what fits best for what you were reading.

My First Conclusion

This is the correct sentence:

He was performing the same steps as she

From Lexico Definition of her

Is it incorrect to say I am older than her (rather than I am older than she)

I think your example is the same as "I am older than she."

Both sentences compare and contrast:

  • I am older than she.
  • He was performing the same steps as she.

Second Conclusion

Then again, as I keep digging, I discover that it's not so clear-cut.

Lexico Definition: Personal Pronoun

It seems that it is normal to say:

I didn't do as well as her.

I know I talk like that and so do the people around me. We also say, "I didn't do as well as she did." English is very flexible. But if that sentence for Lexico: Personal Pronoun is correct, then so is the sentence:

He was performing the same steps as her.

But it should not be "hers" because that is possessive.

Third Conclusion

From What is the difference between “her” and “hers”

My book is better than her (book).
My book is better than hers.

It is cumbersome to say "My book is better than her book," so we say "My book is better than hers."

To compare the sentence about performing steps, consider which of the following two meaning is intended:

  1. He was performing the same steps as her steps.
  2. He was performing the same steps as her/as she was.

If the first, then it is correct to say: He was performing the same steps as hers.

If the second, then it is correct to say: He was performing the same steps as her. You read the book; you know which best fits.

It's very late and I'm not sure if this is clear. Let me know if you have questions.

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  • Surely ',,,the same steps as hers' and '...the same steps as she was' mean the same thing? (Her steps = the steps that she was performing.) 'The same steps as her' is not strictly correct , but it is very commonly used in informal speech. – Kate Bunting Sep 23 '20 at 8:26
  • Hey, wow! It's just amazing to go through your so well explained answer. You did clear up all my doubts. Thanks a ton for this. And sorry for the delayed reply from my side though. I don't know how to make your answer the best one on here – SANTOSH KUMAR Sep 28 '20 at 20:46
  • Third conclusion by you was the game changer for me. I gained a piece of insight today just because of you. Thanks again. – SANTOSH KUMAR Sep 28 '20 at 21:00
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    You can "make my answer the best one" by accepting it. I'm not sure how you do that but you click something to say you accept it as your answer. I'll get bonus points. You can also upvote my answer if you haven't already done so. Again, bonus points for me. Ha-ha. I'm so glad my answer was helpful. Thanks for letting me know. That, in itself, feels like bonus points. – Sarah Bowman Sep 28 '20 at 21:13
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    Please put a check on my answer to say that you accept it. Just tick the box. – Sarah Bowman Oct 1 '20 at 0:07
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Either:

He was performing the same steps as hers.

or

He was performing the same steps as she was.

The expression is: the same as, not "the same like".

However, you might write:

He was performing (steps) like her (where like follows performing.)

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  • Thank you for the answer. I have been reading a book for some time now, and this is where I found this sentence "He was performing the same steps as her". I got confused over this sentence structure. I never thought that there'd be a grammatical mistake in a book. – SANTOSH KUMAR Sep 22 '20 at 23:38
  • <He was performing the same steps as hers.> I disagree that this is correct. I agree with the book you were reading. – Sarah Bowman Sep 23 '20 at 1:30
  • @SarahBowman Thanks for the reply. Would you mind telling me how "hers" in place of "her" will not be used in the given sentence? Thanks – SANTOSH KUMAR Sep 23 '20 at 3:14
  • @SANTOSHKUMAR, I wrote an answer to try and explain. It's very late at night so I'm not sure if it hangs together. Let me know if you have further questions. – Sarah Bowman Sep 23 '20 at 5:57

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