仿佛【fǎngfú】

仿佛 says something looks, feels or sounds as if it were something else. It goes before a verb phrase or a whole clause, and 一样 or 似的 can close the comparison. It's written and literary – stories, essays, descriptions.

With 一样 or 似的 at the end, the comparison reads as a simile.

仿佛 or 好像

好像 does two jobs: a comparison ("as if") and a guess from evidence ("it seems that"). 仿佛 does only the first. For a guess about the facts, use 好像.

• × 他仿佛不在家，灯都关了 → 他好像不在家，灯都关了
• × 明天仿佛要下雨 → 明天好像要下雨