...however like most people, my daily routine seems the same every day.
We are having a heated discussion (
) on the Word of the day thread, well, I am having it with everybody else, as nobody can see anything wrong with that sentence.
Now, why should this be:
Like everybody else is fine. Normal English usage.
As annierats says?
Like everybody else is fine. Normal English usage.
Like everybody, I like to vary my daily routine, however like most people, my daily routine seems the same every day.
How can the second part be correct?
I like to vary my routine, but like for most people, it is always the same.
How can:
I like to vary my routine but like most people, it is always the same ..
can be correct? Makes no sense to me at all. So you are saying that the routine and the people are the same thing here...??
Weird. In my opinion this must read "like for most people" or "like most people's" , my routine....
Please explain why not.
Gracias.
17 Answers
However, like most people, I brush my teeth three times a day.
That is correct, and can be re-written as, "However, I brush my teeth three times a day, like most people".
Let's change it to this:
However, like George, I brush my teeth three times a day.
Or:
However, like Jim and Bob, I brush my teeth three times a day.
"most people" can replace "George", or it can replace "Jim and Bob".
"For" is not necessary in any of those sentences.
Now.....
If you want to say something like this:
However, like for most people, getting up every morning is difficult to do.
In that case, "for" would be necessary.
In Chris' example:
However like most people, my daily routine seems the same every day.
It should read:
However like for most people, my daily routine seems the same every day.
When I gave him the suggestion, I was focusing on the small section I changed, and not on the end of the sentence... which shows that it requires the "for".
Heidi is 100% correct.
I am not an English native but I would like to join the discussion. First of all, I think that a coma is missing here.
Like everybody, I like to vary my daily routine, however, like most people, my daily routine seems the same every day.
But it is a tiny detail. I agree with H. The sentence: I like to vary my routine but like most people, it is always the same
Because it doesn't make sense, with regard to both grammar and logic. 'It' in this sentence must refer to 'routine' and hence 'for' is absolutely cruciar for the sentence to be clear and understandable...
You could also say: I like to vary me daily routine, but, like in case of most people, it is the same(..)
..that's what I think from the Polish perspective 
I think all that is happening here is the "for" is being omitted and native English speakers don't care and it doesn't sound wrong. Something can be grammatically incorrect but still may sound acceptable to a speaker of a language. For example, when English speakers use "her/me/him" in the wrong context where it's "okay" to be wrong, no one is going to correct them. I would guess that every native English speakers know that "Yes, he and I went there yesterday" is right but many may say "Yeah, me and him went there." In this case though, it seems like it's such a tiny error that the meaning is understood just fine and it doesn't sound bad.
Also, wow, so many typo's when I first posted this.
Heidita, I owe you an apology. I didn't see the uncorrected first version. Or maybe didn't read with attention. It happens, especially whilst cooking supper on a normal day. Nevertheless, it is normal usage! If you need 100% grammmatical correctness you should perhaps, perhaps, instead of however like most people, my daily routine seems the same every day. say ** As for most people my daily routine seems to be the same every day **. Or: **Like most people, I seem to have the same daily routine. . But, really, Ian's first version is common usage. It sounds fine. Luciente's he, me and I are actually not correct and stand out as being wrong, whilst obviously easy to understand. Sorry Luciente, and many English people use us when they should use we or me when they should use I. It will, however, never casuse a misunderstanding. I hope this helps and, by all means, shoot me down, I'm having a very bad day anyway.
I like to vary my routine but like most people, it is always the same
Is ok for me Heidi the "it" is the routine - it cannot refer to the people because "people" is a plural - plural for person.
Had to add that your suggestions do make the sentence "sound" better.
I believe Heidi's version is grammatically correct:
I like to vary my routine, but like for most people, it is always the same.
But in this case it sounds clumsy only because she tried to keep it as close to the original as possible.
In general, it is never good to use the same word too often in any given sentence or paragraph. So, in this case, the word "like" was repeated three times. I think, and agree with some of the other posts, that there are better ways of phrasing this sentence. Also, I think breaking it into two sentences makes it sound better. So here is my attempt to make it sound natural, while making it grammatically correct for Heidi.
I like to vary my routine. However, as it is for most people, my routine is always the same.
Now, with all of that being said, the way Chris originally wrote it would be a perfectly natural way for any English speaker's ears. 
You are completely correct, Heidita. And a good English teacher would take points off if this were done on a paper handed in for a grade.
However, in conversational English, we would likely tend to use the "incorrect" version.
I don't know why, but that's the way it is. I does seem we are omitting something. I'm not sure what, though. Sorry. :(
It could be "like for..." as you suggest. Or possibly "like it is for..."
To be correct you could say...
However, my daily routine, like everybody else's, is the same every day.
or
However, like everybody else, I seem to have the same daily routine every day.
I would say the sentence is kind of lame in general (if being graded on a paper...not from a conversational point of view).
A better sentence might be...
Like most people, I like to vary my daily routine, but, like most people, I seem to stay stuck in the same rut day after day.
How can:
I like to vary my routine but like most people,it is always the same ..
be correct? Makes no sense to me at all. So you are saying that the routine and the people are the same thing here...??
Weird. In my opinion this must read "like for most people" or "like most people's" , my routine....
Please explain why not.
Heidita, you are correct on this one:
I like to vary my routine, but, like for most people (which is an awkward way of saying, "as is the case with most people"), it is always (maybe it would make more sense to say "usually" in place of "always") the same.
..however like most people, my daily routine seems the same every day.
however like most teachers however like most people ... however like most Californians ... however like most Jews ... however like most New Yorkers ... however like most Americans, my daily routine seems the same every day. however like most of my friends my daily routine seems the same every day.
all these sound ok to me.
Like everybody, I like to vary my daily routine, however like most people, my daily routine seems the same every day.
...does not sound good.
Perhaps if you switched it around to say--
My daily routine seems the same every day, however like most people, I like to vary it.
Or perhaps--
I like to vary my daily routine, however like most people's, mine seems the same every day.
Good examples
I like to vary my daily routine, however like most people's (routine), mine seems the same every day.
this is what I was trying to say ...I don't see , however, how both native speakers who "helped" chris with that sentence, thought it was perfectly correct as written. 
I think I will go with Luciente...
I think all that is happening here is the "for" is being omitted and native English speakers don't care and it doesn't sound wrong.
jeje
I like to vary my routine, but like for most people, it is always the same.
From the viewpoint of prescriptive grammar, this sentence is incorrect because it has two consecutive prepositions. You should use "as with" instead.
I see what you are trying to say Heidita and agree with you and Luciente 100%. The "for" is needed there for correctness but most of us (here in the Northeast US anyway) would say it without and think nothing of it. To write it that was is certainly something I might be guilty of but I know I would be wrong and would expect the wrath of the Language Gods(or Goddesses) to come down upon me.
The daily routine for most people may be the same, but I prefer to vary mine.
