seem用作連繫動詞或不及物動詞,意為“似乎、好像、看來”。

“主語+seem+(to be)+表語 ”

此時seem為連繫動詞,後直接接形容詞或to be+形容詞或名詞(短語)作表語,以說明主語的特徵或狀態。如:

Tom seems (to be)a very clever boy. 湯姆看上去是一個很聰明的男孩。

Everything seems easy.一切似乎很容易。

注意:afraid,asleep,awake等表語形容詞不能直接跟在seem 之後,必須和seem to be 連用,如:They seem awake.(誤)應改為:They seem to be awake.

“主語+seem +不定式(或不定式的完成式)”

此句型中的seem 用作不及物動詞,不用在進行時態中,其與不定式一起構成複合謂語(不定式作賓語)。如:

a. The moon seems to change its shape. 月亮好像在變換形狀。

b. I seem not to be able to make him happy. 我似乎不能使他高興起來。

c. They seemed to be eating something. 他們好像在吃什麼東西。

d. I seem to have caught a cold. 我似乎已經感冒了。

注意:seem 後跟不定式(短語)時,要注意不定式所表示動作發生的時間,以此來確定不定式的時態,如例c、d;seem 後不定式的否定式習慣上在seem 前加don’t ,也可以用seem not to...,如例b也可以說成:I don’t seem to be able to make him happy.

“seem +分詞”

a. Our teacher seemed stopped by the question. 我們老師似乎被問題難住了。

b. The news seems exciting. 訊息似乎令人興奮。

注意:seem後用現在分詞還是過去分詞,取決於分詞本身的邏輯主語,如句子的主語是分詞的邏輯主語,用現在分詞,如例b;反之用過去分詞,如例a。

“seem+like+n/v-ing”

like在這裡是介詞,此句式等於seem to be結構。如:

It seems like years since I saw you last time.自從上次見到你,好像過了幾年。

The girl seems like /to be a happy bird.那女孩好似一隻快樂的小鳥。

“seem+ 介詞短語”

They seem in high spirits .他們似乎境界很高。

seem 常用於it作形式主語的“It seems /seemed that...”結構中

該結構中it作形式主語,“that...”是真正的主語。此結構可以用seem後接不定式來改寫。如:

It seems that you were lying. 好像你在說謊。

It seemed that he was ill, so I called in the doctor.

=He seemed (to be) ill, so I called in the doctor. 看來他病了,所以我請了醫生。

注意:It seems that... 從句中,that從句可以用陳述語氣,也可以用虛擬語氣;或者在seem後可以跟一個形容詞。如:

It seems impossible that he will be here tomorrow.他明天在這裡好像不可能。

seem通常用在“It seems/seemed to sb (that)…”結構中,這種結構用來表示“行為”的主體。如:

It seems to us a good chance. 對我們來說似乎是一個好機會。

It seems to me everything is all right.對我來說似乎一切都不錯。

seem也常用於“ There seem(s) to be+名詞”結構中,to be可省略, seem的單複數形式要根據後面主語的名詞單複數形式而定。如:

a. There seems to be no need to wait longer.似乎沒有必要再等待了。

b. There doesn’t seem to be too much hope of our team beating theirs.看來我們戰勝他們隊沒有多大希望了。

注意:

(1)此結構中seem表示 “似乎有;好像有……”,可以和It seems as if...轉換。如:

There seem to be a lot of things to do.=It seems as if there are a lot of things to do.

(2)“Thereseem(s) to be +名詞”這一結構的否定形式為“There seem(s) to be +no+名詞”,如例a; 或“There doesn’t seem to be +名詞”,如例b。

seem常用於由as if/though引導的從句中

a. It seems as if it was/were spring already.好像已經是春天了。

b. It seems as though our plan will be perfect.似乎我們的計劃很完美。

注意:這種句式中,如果從句所敘述的事情實現的可能性較大或可以被設想為事實,從句的謂語用陳述語氣,如例b;若實現的可能性小或根本不可能實現,從句用虛擬語氣,如例a。

seem 有時和人稱代詞I連用,意為“感到好像,覺得似乎”。如:

a. I seem unable to solve it right now. 看來我無法立即解決它。

b. I seem to have seen him somewhere before.我覺得以前在什麼地方見過他。