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# seem

«seem» in Mova's school dictionary: **to look or appear to be something, from what you can see…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (seem, seems, seemed, seeming)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To seem means to look or appear to be something, from what you can see or know: «She seems happy». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#m1)

2) «It seems» is used to say what you think is true but are not sure about: «It seems we are lost». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, «seem» shows what a character notices without knowing for sure, and things that seem one way can turn out different: a trap the reader should notice. In science, results «seem to show» something until checked. In safety, someone who seems friendly online may not be. Phrases: «seem to», «it seems that», «seem like».

### examples

- You seem tired today. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x1)
- The dog seems friendly, but ask the owner first. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x2)
- It seems like it will rain. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x3)
- The puzzle seemed hard at first. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x4)
- Things are not always what they seem. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x5)
- He seems to know the answer. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x6)
- The test seemed to last forever. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x7)
- It seems that we took the wrong path. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x8)
- "It's fated I must, it seems! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/#x9)

### note

«Seem» is not used in the -ing form for this meaning: say «You seem sad», not «You are seeming sad». «Seem» is followed by an adjective, «to» + verb, or «like». Do not confuse «seem» with «seam» (a line where cloth is sewn together) — they sound the same.

### In the corpora

- [When a parent seems frazzled after work, it is usually the workload, not anything the child did.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/1-a-day-at-a-grown-ups-job/18/)
- [Giveaways asking for card details are scams, even if a famous face seems to promise them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/12-keep-yourself-private-and-voices-that-lie/16/)
- [A "new friend" who seems lovely and asks for photos is showing a big warning sign, whoever or whatever is typing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/13-strangers-hooks-and-too-perfect-messages/1/)
- [Every big invention, such as the telephone, seemed strange or scary at first and later became normal.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/25-future-fears-rules/16/)
- [Claiming feelings just to seem friendly would be dishonest, like the "AI friend" in the safety lessons.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/27-who-you-are-words-not-body/12/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «seem» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/seem/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.