appear/seem/look

appear, look 和 seem 在作“似乎”“好像”解时主要有以下区别。从词义上看: appear 表示从外表或表面上看上去“好像,似乎”,因此,有时暗含着“事实上并非如此”的意思(如 A 项例 2)。look 强调从视觉上得出的印象。而 seem 则表示有某种根据的判断,这种判断往往是接近或符合事实的。

A. appear, look, seem 后接形容词、分词、名词等:

1. It appears a true story. 这故事似乎是真的。

2. He appeared calm, but inside his heart was beating wildly with fear. 他外表显得很平静，但内心却因害怕而跳个不停。

3. He looked a perfect fool. 他看起来是个十足的大傻瓜。

4. She seems (to be) quite happy. 她似乎相当幸福。

B. appear, seem 可后接实义动词的不定式或 to be, 而 look 不能接实义的动词不定式, 但可接 to be:

1. She appears to have many friends. 她好像有很多朋友。

2. Judging by her letter, she looks to be the best person for the job. 从她的信来判断,她似乎是这个工作的最适当的人选。

3. He seemed to hesitate for a minute. 他似乎犹豫了一会。

C. 接从句(look 只能接 as if 从句,但不能接 that 从句):

1. It appears (that) the plane did not land at Rome. 飞机似乎没有在罗马着陆。

2. It looks as if it's going to rain. 看来好像要下雨了。

3. It seems that she likes her new job. 好像她喜欢她的新工作。

4. It looks as if our class won't be able to bathe at all. 看起来我们班同学根本不能在这里游泳。

另外, look 还可以用在 look like 结构中:

It looked like ordinary salt, but was one million times more radioactive than uranium. 看起来它就像普通的食盐一样，而它的放射性却比铀还要大一百万倍。