Look/seem like vs as if

Hello!
Can you explain this to me, please? I am teaching and learning English and as far as I know there are grammatical patterns which we use after verbs of senses. So we have to use “look/feel, etc. like+ a noun(a noun phrase)” and “look/feel, etc. as if+ a clause”. Nevertheless I often hear and see on the internet the vice versa thing, and so do my students, when people use “look like+ a clause” in sentences like: “it looks/seems like there’s no other option, sorry”.

How can I explain it to my students? Is it just a fact about spoken English we need to accept?

Orlanda said:

So How can I explain it to my students? Is it just a fact about spoken English we need to except accept?

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Note my corrections and comments above.

You can also use like in the same way that you use as if/though. There's nothing to explain.

like + noun phrase

as if + clause
as though + clause
like + clause

jutfrank said:

You can also use like in the same way that you use as if/though. There's nothing to explain.

like + noun phrase

as if + clause
as though + clause
like + clause

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I see. Then the rules are different from the way it really is. I use English File to teach and in the upper intermediate book they give different information. I guess it can be very confusing for people who learn English without a teacher.

jutfrank said:

You can also use like in the same way that you use as if/though. There's nothing to explain.

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i am old-fashioned enough to dislike that. But, as Swan (4th edn, §378) writes:

Like is often used in the same way as as if/though, especially in an informal style. This used to be typically American English, but is now common in British English.

Orlanda said:

I see. Then the rules are different from the way it really is. I use English File to teach and in the upper intermediate book they give different information. I guess it can be very confusing for people who learn English without a teacher.

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Every edition of English File that I've ever used has mentioned that you can use like in the same way as as though. Which edition do you use? All of the big other coursebooks that I can think of do too.