structure · neutral

seem + to + V

Band 7+speakingtask2

Use 'seem + to + V' to express an appearance or a conclusion based on evidence; it means 'appears to do something'.

Examples

“She seems to understand the assignment.”

“The economy seems to be recovering slowly.”

“He seems to have forgotten our meeting.”

Band 8 sentence

“Based on the preliminary data, the new policy seems to be delivering the intended social benefits.”

Collocations

  • seem to understand/know
  • seem to be + adjective

Word family

seem + to + V (active) structureseem + to have + past participle (perfect infinitive) structure

Common mistakes

He seems understand the issue.→He seems to understand the issue.

She seems like she is tired.→She seems to be tired.

Say it for a higher band

5seem + V-ing (incorrect omission of 'to')→6seem like + clause→7+seem + to + V

Synonyms

appear + to + V

Easily confused

seem like + clause

“He seems like a nice person.”

Related words

look forward to + V-ingtry + V-ing / try to + Vfor + somebody + to + Vavoid + V-ingbe likely to + Vbegin / start + V-ing / to + Vprevent + somebody + from + V-ingturn out + to + V

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In Gerunds & infinitives

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