Describing something as 'child like', and not 'a child'


みなさんこんにちは! :D

Is there a general means in 日本語 of describing something as being 'like'
something, while not literally being said thing.

Ive been trying to practice by (struggling to) write notes on things by
partially using 日本語, and in english class i ran into the problem of not
knowing how to properly write 'she is a vary child LIKE character'.

I normally just google these thīngs, but i aint been able to find a answer,
thus i was wondering if y'all might be able to inform me on this.

Thanks! :D




Many expressions in Japanese seem to come in threes. For this one, "to be like
or similar to something", we also have three.

  * ～っぽい  
Similar to the English _-ish_ ending, with possible negative overtones.

  * ～らしい  
Similar to the English _-like_ or _-ly_ ending, with possible positive
overtones.

  * ～のように  
Much as H. Ha describes. Probably the most neutral in terms of overtones.

To compare, English _childish_ carries negative implications, while
_childlike_ is more positive. So too the English terms _mannish_ versus
_manly_ , _womanish_ versus _womanly_ , etc. The neutral Japanese ～のように might
be closest to the English construction _like a ～_.




Many expressions in Japanese seem to come in threes. For this one, "to be like
or similar to something", we also have three.

  * ～っぽい  
Similar to the English _-ish_ ending, with possible negative overtones.

  * ～らしい  
Similar to the English _-like_ or _-ly_ ending, with possible positive
overtones.

  * ～のように  
Much as H. Ha describes. Probably the most neutral in terms of overtones.

To compare, English _childish_ carries negative implications, while
_childlike_ is more positive. So too the English terms _mannish_ versus
_manly_ , _womanish_ versus _womanly_ , etc. The neutral Japanese ～のように might
be closest to the English construction _like a ～_.

