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seem、look、appear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：
- Look 和 seem 後面可以接like 所引導的子句 ，但 appear 通常不行。
- Seem 和 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。
- It seems 和 It appears 後面可以接that 描述，但It looks…則不行。
三、語意的差異
Seem：
- 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)
- 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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