Timeline for What's the difference between "seem" and "seem as if"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 17, 2019 at 22:48 | comment | added | Selin | @Mitch Thanks for being a big help. It became clear. | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 18:30 | comment | added | Mitch | @Selin Your grammar teachers are not wrong. It's just not as black and white as a hard rule. Or rather, the strength depends a lot on context. "The old man could barely pick up the small box, as if it were filled with the heaviest lead". (note the subjunctive (which is not common nowadays)). But in any case, that is intended to be hypothetical. But in your sentence, with 'seem', it doesn't really add much. | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:32 | comment | added | Selin | @Mitch Okay thank you so much. In grammer lessons in Turkey, they tell us if we use past tense after as if the sentence indicates that one does not believe what someone has just said. It didn't seem right to me, and that's why I wanted to ask. Thank you so much for clarification | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:17 | comment | added | TaliesinMerlin | @Selin Aside from intonation and context (like emphasizing the "as if" by itself with italics, bolding, or dubious vocal intonation (as if)), there's no way to tell from the sentence alone. | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:16 | comment | added | Selin | For instance : They looked at me as if I was mad. This sentence is an example of this situation I think. But is there a grammaticially way to distinguish it from other forms? | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:16 | comment | added | Mitch | @Selin the 'as if' sentence only has the tiniest of smidgen's of surprise but not disbelief. Any slightest disbelief would be a quick inference though. | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:14 | history | edited | TaliesinMerlin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 65 characters in body
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| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:10 | comment | added | Selin | Thank you so much for your detailed answer. Actually I am trying to find out how to understand whether the sentence indicates that one does not believe what someone has just said | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:09 | comment | added | Mitch | Also, 'as if', all by itself, is used more literally as an interjection or short rejoinder to mean that one does not believe what someone has just said. | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 17:07 | comment | added | Mitch | In other words, 'as if' literally introduces a hypothetical/imaginary situation, but when used with 'seem', is mostly pleonastic. 'Seem' is also weakly proposing a similar but distinct situation, but is as weak as the 'as if'. This renders both versions as ways to say 'I think it looks like X'. (I'm just adding to what you're saying, feel free to edit or not as you see fit). | |
| Jan 17, 2019 at 16:56 | history | answered | TaliesinMerlin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |