E.g. "Motels do not provide shampoos like hotels" vs "Motels do not provide shampoos unlike hotels".
The "like" used in the first sentence is used in the sense of giving an example that provides shampoos, e.g. hotels, and not meant to show relation to a similar example.
Whereas the "unlike" is used in the sense of giving a contrast to "do not provide" thus giving an example that "provides".
Am I getting something wrong here?
Best Answer
Yes. There are a lot of comparisons where one can use like and unlike in a way that at a particular point means the opposite thing, but as an entire statement means the same thing.
The difference is in what part the comparison is being made with. When you use like it is comparing the "provide shampoos" and with unlike it is comparing the "do not provide shampoos.
This makes the sentence as a whole ambiguous, though that isn't always a problem as we can often get the meaning from context or prior knowledge (if we know that hotels generally offer shampoos we will only read the statements correctly).
When the ambiguity is a problem it can be removed by rephrasing.
Would only be read as suggesting hotels do offer shampoos.
Would only be read as suggesting hotels do not offer shampoos.