When is "seems to be" used instead of "seems"? - English ...

Most of the times there is no difference in meaning between seem to be and seem, but seem to be is preferred when we mean something that appears to be ... EnglishLanguageLearnersStackExchangeisaquestionandanswersiteforspeakersofotherlanguageslearningEnglish.Itonlytakesaminutetosignup. Signuptojointhiscommunity Anybodycanaskaquestion Anybodycananswer Thebestanswersarevotedupandrisetothetop Home Public Questions Tags Users Unanswered Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Collaborateandshareknowledgewithaprivategroup. CreateafreeTeam WhatisTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore Whenis"seemstobe"usedinsteadof"seems"? AskQuestion Asked 5years,11monthsago Active 5years,7monthsago Viewed 116ktimes 23 12 Thebabyseemshappy/comfortable. Thebabyseemstobehappy/comfortable. Arethesebothcorrect?Ifbotharecorrect,whatarethedifferencesbetweenthem? infinitivesphrase-choicecomplementationlinking-verbs Share Improvethisquestion Follow editedApr24'16at11:30 user230 askedJan17'16at12:51 AzaharAliAzaharAli 1,25533goldbadges1313silverbadges2424bronzebadges 13 Related:DifferencesbetweenVerb+tobe+adjectivesandVerb+adjective – CowperKettle Jan17'16at13:07 i.e.duplicate@Copper. – M.A.R. Jan17'16at13:09 @Ϻ.Λ.Ʀ.No-it'sonanothersite. – StoneyBonhiatus Jan17'16at13:23 @StoneyIknow,andthat'stheonlythingthatdisallowsclosure. – M.A.R. Jan17'16at13:29 1 @AraucariaI'dprollysay"Itseemsthatthebaby'shappy"inthosecircumstances.Sothere! – StoneyBonhiatus Jan17'16at17:05  |  Show8morecomments 5Answers 5 Active Oldest Votes 20 Seemusedasalinkverbcanbefollowedbyanadjective,tobe+anadjective, Youseem(tobe)angrywithsomething, nounphrases, Sheseems(tobe)anicegirl. infinitives, Theyseemtohavemadeamistake. like, Thevillageseems(like)aniceplaceforaholiday. that-andif-clauses. Itseemsasifthenightisnevergoingtoend. Withthereseem(s)tobeisused. Thereseemtobealotofmistakes.Thereseemstobesomeproblem. Seemandseemtobeareinterchangeableinmostcasesandthedifferenceisnotalwaysclear-cut.Itoftendependsonwhetherwearementioningobjectivefactsorexpressingoursubjectiveideas.Itdependsonwhatyouwanttosay. Thebusseemstobefull.(Itistrue.Itreallyis.). Accordingtotheexperts,thebuildingseemstobeonehundredyearsold.(Wetrusttheexperts). Itseemscrazy,butIthinkIaminlovewithhim.(Mysubjectiveimpression) Sheseemssleepy.(Ithinkso.) Sheseemstobesleepy.(Lookather!) Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedApr21'16at16:43 answeredApr17'16at8:07 V.V.V.V. 6,99522goldbadges2121silverbadges3636bronzebadges 2 Ifyouusetherethenseem,shouldbeseem(s). – SamHarrington Apr21'16at15:39 Sayingseemstoforthingsthatareobviousissoridiculous.Ifinditasthemoststupidwaytospeakandexpress – diegoaguilar Dec31'18at13:17 Addacomment  |  7 STRAIGHTTOTHEPOINT-SHORTANSWER- Thebabyseemshappy/comfortable. Thebabyseemstobehappy/comfortable. Theybotharecorrect,andthereisnodifferenceinmeaning. DIGGINGDEEPER-EXPLANATION- Wewilldiscussherethisstructure-XcopularverbY. AtthisverybeginningwewilldiscusstwotypesofCopularClauses-oneisAscriptiveandtheotherisSpecifying. 1.Sam[THEME]washungry[PROPERTY]. 2.Robin[VARIABLE]wasthetallestofthem[VALUE]. InAscriptiveuse,asinsentence#1thePredicativeComplement(PC)ascribesthepropertyorthecharacteristicsofthesubject.OntheotherhandintheSpecifyinguse,asinsentence#2,thePChelpstospecifyoridentifythesubject. Attimestheyareambiguous,thatmeanstheycanbeexplainedbothasAscriptiveuseandSpecifyinguse. ThevictimisKim'ssister. Inspecifyinguse,thevictimisidentifiedasKim'ssister.Inascriptiveuse,itonlysaysthevictimisthesisterofKim,nowimaginethatKimhasmorethanonesister,itdoesn'tsaywhichsisterofKimisthevictim.Soit'sinthatsituationanascriptiveuse.(InspecifyinguseitimpliesthatKimhasonlyonesister.) Theverb-be-canlicensebothascriptivePCandspecifyingPC,whereasothercopularverbscanlicenseonlytheascriptivePC.Ifothercopularverbslicenseto-infinitiveclausethelimitationcanbeovercomewiththeuseoftobebeforeaSpecifyingPC. ItwasMax.[Theverb-be-cantakeaspecifyingPC] !ItseemedMax[INCORRECT-becausethecopularverb-seem-can'ttakeaspecifyingPC] Anditcanbeovercomewiththeuseoftobe- ItseemedtobeMax. ButtheuseoftobeafterseemisnotrestrictedtoonlythesituationwhereweneedaspecifyingPC.Asseemcanlicenseato-infinitive,wecanuseoptionaltobeevenbeforeanascriptivePC.Butnoticethedifference,intheascriptiveuse,theuseoftobeisoptional,butincaseofspecifyingusetheuseoftobeisobligatory. InOP'sexamplestheAdjPs-happyorcomfortable-denotesaproperty,andnothingbutAscriptivePCsinthosesentences.Sotheuseoftobeaftertheverb-seem-isoptional. Nowthatweknowwhentousetobeafterseemoptionallyandwhentouseitobligatorily,let'sfocusonwhatextrameaningtobeadds,ifatall. Mostofthetimesthereisnodifferenceinmeaningbetweenseemtobeandseem,butseemtobeispreferredwhenwemeansomethingthatappearstobedefinitelytrue(objectivefacts).Ontheotherhandseemwithouttobeispreferredwhenit'sbasedonpersonalfeeling(subjectiveimpression). Forexample- Thedoctorshavedoneallthetests,andhedefinitelyseemstobeinsane. Itseemsinsane,butIthinkI'minlovewiththepostman.[NOTItseemstobeinsane] Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedApr24'16at4:53 answeredApr21'16at3:43 Man_From_IndiaMan_From_India 10.6k55goldbadges3333silverbadges7171bronzebadges 2 1 -1ThereisnovalidreasonwhyItseemedMaxisungrammatical.Rare,perhaps,outdatedprobably,butnotyetungrammatical. – AlanCarmack May30'16at14:57 3 @AlanCarmackIdon'tgetmuchtimetosparecurrently.ButIdonoticethatyoumadeaverygoodpoint.Perhapsyouhavesomethingmoreeasilyexplainableinyourmind.Perhapsyoucouldelaborateonit.ButwhenIhearitseemedMaxIexpectsomethingelsetofollowandcompletethesentence.Iwanttoknowwhyyouclaimit'snotungrammatical.Canyoupleaseprovidesentencesfromoldertextsthat'sproperlyedited?Basicallyjuststatingthatit'sgrammaticalinolderusageisnotthathelpful.Supportyourclaimwithgoodreferences.Thanks. – Man_From_India May30'16at16:31 Addacomment  |  4 Theboyseems(tobe)happy/comfortable Whenyouusetheword'seem'asalinkingverb(copular)followedbyagradableadjective,sayhappyorcomfortable,youcanusethe'seem'withorwithout'tobe',withoutanydifferenceinmeaning. Youcanalsousetheverbseemwithorwithout'tobe'whenit'sfollowedbyanounphrasehavinganadjectivesuchas: Heseems(tobe)aniceman. Theuseoftheseemwithouttobeismorecommoninthecasesstatedabove. However,youusetobeafterseemwhenanounphrasefollowsadeterminerwithoutanadjective,forexample: Heseemstobetheownerofthishouse. Asfornongradableadjectivessuchasasleep,alone,alive,etc.,youusuallyuse'tobe"after'seem'.Forexample: Heseemstobeasleep. Besides,youuse'tobe'afterthe'seem'whenit'sfollowedbyan-ingform.Forexample: Heseemstobehavingbreakfastatthemoment. However,youdon'tusetobewhentheseemisfollowedbyaclausewiththat,like,orasif/asthough.Forexamples: Itseems(that)he'llgotoLondontomorrow. Itseemslikeyouarecatchingacold. Itseemsasif/asthoughyoudon'thaveenoughmoney. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay30'16at17:18 answeredJan17'16at19:28 KhanKhan 26.5k11goldbadge2626silverbadges4949bronzebadges 7 Ilearnsuchgreatthingsaboutmyownlanguagehere!Asacorollary,I'mtryingtousenon-gradableadjectivesinyourlastsentence."Thebabyseemsalonetome,"soundsstrange,and"Thebabyseemsasleeptome,"almostasbad,whereas"Thebabylookstomelikeshe'sasleep,"isfarmorenatural. – CynicallyNaive Apr17'16at5:49 CynicallyNaive,yoursentenceisnotonlynaturalbutalsoeasyontheear. – Khan Apr17'16at10:42 @CynicallyNaivewhataboutthenongradableadjective-enough?seemenoughandseemtobeenoughbothareokayIthink. – Man_From_India Apr21'16at4:28 1 Hereisanothernon-gradableadjective:impossible.Isimpossiblegradable?Ithinkmost,ifnotall,grammarbookswouldincludeitintheirnon-gradableadjectives.Whichdoyouthinkismorecommon:ItseemsimpossibleorItseemstobeimpossible?HereisarelevantGoogleNgramchart:books.google.com/ngrams/…. – DamkerngT. Apr23'16at2:55 @DamkerngT.Thoughbotharecorrect,Iguessit'scontextdependent.InmyanswerImentionedthedifferenceinmeaning,andIthinkthatprobablyisthereasonbehindseemimpossibletobemorecommon.Ireallydon'tbuytheideaofgradable-nongradablestuffshere. – Man_From_India Apr23'16at4:08  |  Show2morecomments 3 +200 Thisquestionismoreintricatethanitseems... "Seem"isoneofthecopularorlinkingverbs,whichcanbeusedinthesamewayastheverb"be"(actually"be"ispartofthisfamilytoo).So"thebabyishappy","thebabyseemshappy",but"thebabysmileshappily"("smile"isnotalinkingverb).Alongerdiscussioncanbefoundhere. But"seem"isaspecialcopularverb,sinceitcanalsobeusedwith"tobe"withalmostthesamemeaning;theonlyothercopularverbthatcanbeusedthiswayis(orseemstobe)"appear".So,justexplainingcopularverbsmightnottellyouthewholestory. Both"seem"and"appear",whenusedascopulae,suggestanuncertainopinionorobservation;theyareveryusefulfordiscussingsomethingyouaren'tsureabout(asIamdoingnow!). Lookingatthesentencesyouprovideasexample,thereseemstobe(thatis,Ithinkthereis)asubtledifference: Thebabyseemshappy Ireaditas"thebabylookshappy[tome]";itsuggestsaneutralobservation,impressionorinterpretationofhowthebabylooks-itmightbewrong,butitisdefinitelythespeaker'sobservation. Thebabyseemstobehappy Ireadthisas"thebabylooksasifhe/sheishappy[butIsuspectthatit'snottrue]";itsuggestssomedoubtinthespeaker'smind-itismoreanopinionthananobservation. Youcanalsoconsider"itseemstobe"asapassivewayofsaying"Ithinkitis";forexample,"Johnseemstobemissing"practicallymeans"IthinkJohnismissing"(ifJohnisnotpresent,thensaying"heseemsmissing"doesn'tmakemuchsense). Therearecaseswherethedistinctionisdifficult,sincepeopleoftenstatetheirobservationsasopinions(asawayofbeingpolite);soyoumayhearpeoplesay"thereseemstobeaproblem...",whentheyactuallymean"thereisdefinitelyaproblem".Nevertheless,Ithinkthis"observationvs.opinion"or"neutralityvs.doubt"isthekeytodecidingwhichformtouse. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedApr23'16at21:45 answeredApr23'16at21:14 laughsalutesMonicaClaughsalutesMonicaC 5,94811goldbadge1313silverbadges3636bronzebadges Addacomment  |  1 "seemstobehappy"istheoriginalformula."tobe"ismostlydroppedbecause"tobe"doesnotachievemuch. Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredApr17'16at10:10 rogermuerogermue 8,32022goldbadges2020silverbadges2424bronzebadges Addacomment  |  Youmustlogintoanswerthisquestion. Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedinfinitivesphrase-choicecomplementationlinking-verbs. 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