超實用!!來看看 seem、look、appear三個「看起來」在文法與語意的差異!

當大家想到「看起來」、「似乎」,腦中會不會浮現 seem、look、appear而不知道應該用哪一個詞彙呢?雖然seemlookappear感覺相似,但其實文法與語意上有些微的不同噢!快來看看是怎麼一回事!

一、 通則:seem, look, appear+形容詞

舉例一:He seems angry. (他似乎生氣了)
舉例二:John appears unaffected by all the media attention. (約翰似乎未受媒體關注的影響)
舉例三:She looks very happy. (她看起來非常高興)
※  注意:後面不可以接 副詞 噢!

二、 語法結構的差異

seem, appear+ to + 動詞  表示已發生的狀態、行為

舉例一:He does not appear to be at the office now.(他現在好像不在辦公室。)
舉例二:I seem to see someone going into my house.(我好像看見有人走進了我的家。)

It seems / appears to + have + P.P  表示在這之前就已經發生的完成式狀態、行為

舉例一:I seem to have lost my way. Can you help me?(我好像迷路了。你能協助我嗎?)

It seems like / It looks like… 

舉例一:It looks like David will be able to come too. (看來大衛好像也能來)
舉例二:It seems like their marriage is over. (他們的婚姻好像結束了)

It seems that / It appears that

舉例一:It appears that you might be right.(看起來你可能是對的。)
舉例二:It seems that light energy will be an important subject of scientific research in the future.(看來,在未來的年代裡,光能是科學研究的重要課題。)

總結:

  1. Look seem 後面可以接like 所引導的子句 ,但 appear 通常不行。
  2. Seem appear 後面經常接「to + 原形動詞」或「to + have + P.P.」來表示較早發生的動作或狀態,但 look 則沒有這項用法。
  3. It seems It appears 後面可以接that 描述,但It looks…則不行。

三、語意的差異

Seem

  1. 客觀的事實、印象或感想

舉例一:It seems a shame that we can’t take David on holiday with us. (不能帶著大衛跟我們一起度假似乎很可惜)
舉例二:It doesn’t seem like a good idea to leave him here by himself. (讓他獨自一人留在這裡似乎不是個好主意)

  1. 主觀和情緒上的印象或感想

舉例一:You seem to have some reservations. (你似乎還有些不同看法。)
舉例二:You seem too strict with your young ones. (你對孩子管得似乎太嚴了。)

Appear

比 seem來的正式些通常用於客觀的事實、印象或感想

舉例一:They have the same surname, but they don’t appear/seem to be related. (他們的姓氏相同,但似乎沒有親戚關係)
舉例二:She’s not getting any better. It seems/appears that she’s not been taking the medication. (她的病情沒有任何好轉。她似乎一直都沒有服藥)

Look

用法與 seem 相近,用來指從外表得到的印象或感想,可能是主觀情緒或客觀事實。

舉例一:He looked surprised when he heard the news. (得知消息時他顯得吃驚。)
舉例二:She looked pale. (她臉色顯得蒼白。)

弄懂了這些細微差異了嗎:D

作者:Sylvia Chu
Source: 英文資訊交流網  世界公民文化中心
Photo Source: Giulia Torra CC Licensed

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