The LIKE Condition

The LIKE condition is used to specify a search for a pattern in a column.
Syntax

SELECT column FROM table
WHERE column LIKE pattern

A "%" sign can be used to define wildcards (missing letters in the pattern) both before and after the pattern.
Using LIKE

The following SQL statement will return persons with first names that start with an 'O':

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName LIKE 'O%'

The following SQL statement will return persons with first names that end with an 'a':

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName LIKE '%a'

The following SQL statement will return persons with first names that contain the pattern 'la':

SELECT * FROM Persons
WHERE FirstName LIKE '%la%'