のように / のような— The Formal Comparison

• 太陽のような笑顔ですね。

  Taiyou no you na egao desu ne.

  It's a smile like the sun.

  太陽のような (formal, noun-modifying: sun-like) + 笑顔

• 犬のように忠実だ。

  Inu no you ni chuujitsu da.

  He is loyal like a dog.

  犬のように (formal, adverbial: like a dog) + 忠実

• 前に言ったように、計画は変わりません。

  Mae ni itta you ni, keikaku wa kawarimasen.

  Just as I said before, the plan will not change.

  言ったように = in the same manner as was stated

• ・Formal Weight: You can say 太陽みたいな笑顔 in conversation, but 太陽のような笑顔 is used in poetry, letters, and literature.
• ・Example Listing: Very common for giving examples: 犬や猫のような動物 (animals SUCH AS dogs and cats).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones のように is tested against.

• たことがある — Have Done (Experience)
• つもりだ — Intention / Plan
• ほうがいい — Had Better / Should
• てほしい — Want someone (else) to do something
• だけで — Just by doing / With just
• ではないか / じゃないか — Isn't it? (rhetorical)
• が必要だ (がひつようだ) — Need / Necessary
• がする — Involuntary sense perception