It seems that he is rich.
and
It appears that he is rich.
These two sentences seem to me similar. Is there any slight difference?
-
Answers to your question are in the following link, “Seem”, “appear”, “look” — how to differentiate?. You had better try "search" first before posting a question– user140086Commented Dec 2, 2015 at 8:55
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
While they are synonyms in a lot of cases (and can be used interchangeably without changing the intended or inferred meaning), there can be a slight difference:
- I saw John at the hospital, and he appears fine.
- I saw John at the hospital, and he seems fine.
No (1) is usually straightforward and positive, while No (2) may carry the additional meaning of the speaker being less sure of John's condition, in that outwardly John "appears" okay, but that may not be the whole story.
This difference can be substantially greater, depending on how the words are stressed (when spoken).
To generalise: if there is the need to imply that there could be any doubt at all (even if only slight), then use seems rather than appears.
"seems" and "appears" are synonyms as used in the sentences you provided.
Definition 1 of SEEM according to Merriam Webster
to appear to the observation or understanding
and
Definition 3 of APPEAR according to Merriam Webster
to have an outward aspect : seem
-
I would advise you to take a look at the previous answers in the above comment.– user140086Commented Dec 2, 2015 at 7:45
-
-
1Looks better. +1)– user140086Commented Dec 2, 2015 at 7:53
-
Welcome to ELU. Please note that one of the rules is that quotes must have their source in plain text -- as well as a link if that's possible -- in case the link goes AWOL when the post is quoted elsewhere.– Andrew Leach ♦Commented Dec 2, 2015 at 10:38
-
@AndrewLeach Thanks for the welcome. I've edited my answer, how's that?– InsaneCommented Dec 3, 2015 at 7:15