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When we talk about the impression something or someone gives us through the
senses, we use look, feel, smell, sound, and taste. After these verbs we can
use:
an adjective
You look bored.
That smells delicious.
This music sounds awful.
These shoes feel comfortable.
The soup tastes a bit spicy.
like + a noun
You look like your brother.
It sounds like a bomb.
This tastes like cocoa, not coffee.
When we talk about the impression something or someone gives us through the
senses, we use look, feel, smell, sound, and taste. After these verbs we can
use:
as if/as though + a clause
seem
We use seem when something/somebody gives us an impression of being or doing
something through a combination of the senses and what we know, but not purely
through one sense, e.g. the visual sense. Compare seem and look:
You look tired = I get this impression from your face.
You seem sad. = I get this impression from the way you are behaving in general,
e.g. voice, actions, etc.
seem
After seem we can use:
an adjective
You seem sad. Is something wrong?
an infinitive (simple or perfect or continuous)
You seem to be a bit worried today. Are you OK?
The waiter seems to have made a mistake with the order.
like + noun or as if/as though + a verb phrase
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but in fact it wasnt.
It seems as if/as though every time I clean the windows it rains.
seem is not used in the progressive form.