Having taken into account the following- especially, italic and bold parted- would you possibly show me if we could omit to be always? in other word, could we write or say seem instead of seem to be ? or seem to be instead of seem?
Excerpted from Swan's book, Practical English Usage:
seem and seem to be
Seem is often followed by to be. We prefer seem to be when we are talking about objective facts - things that seem definitely to be true. Seem is used without to be when we are talking about subjective impressions. (The difference is not always clear-cut, and both are often possible.) Compare:
- -
-
The bus seems to be full.
She seems excited.
The doctors have done the tests, and he definitely seems to be mentally ill.
It seems crazy, but I think I'm in love with the postman. (NOT It seems t8 he eM£y •.•)
According to the experts, the north side ofthe castle seems to be about 100 years older than the rest.
He seems older than he is. (NOT He seents ttJ he tJltler than he is - this would suggest that he might actually be older than he is.)
She doesn't seem to be ready yet. She seems (to be) very sleepy today.
Another link may be helpful: Page 42 the part B: enter link description here
Thanks
Answer
You can use seem or seem to be before a gradable adjective or a noun phrase as follows:
He seems or seems to be happy.
Adam seems or seems to be a nice man.
On the other hand, you usually use "to be" before a non-gradable adjective. You should also use "to be" before a noun phrase having the determiner a or the but not an adjective, the -ing form of a verb, etc. as follows:
They seem to be asleep.
The dog seems to be alive.
Philip seems to be sleeping.
It seems to be raining.
You seem to be the owner of this house.
It seems to be a problem.
Moreover, you should use seem without to be when there is the preposition "to" after an adjective such as "This matter seems important to me".
I think this explanation will help the OP find answers to the questions asked in his post.
No comments:
Post a Comment