appear, look, seem的用法及区别

一、含义上的差异
appear 是指根据事物的外表表象做出判断的，但实质上并不一定如此；

seem是表示说话人主观上的判断，暗含有一定的根据，往往接近事实的判断；

look是根据视觉印象而得出的判断，实质上也可能如此。例如：                      

She is fifty but she appears young . 她五十岁了，但看起来很年轻。(其实并非如此)

Se seems young . (I think he is rich .) 她看起来很年轻。(根据个人的主观判断而推断出)                                                                       

She looks young . 她很年轻。(从他外表可出感觉出)

二、用法上的差异

1. appear，look，seem 后均可带名词、形容语、to be 结构。

The man who came yesterday appeared / seemed / looked an hounest man . 昨天来的那个人看来是一个诚实的人。

My brother appeared (to be) happy when he heard from sister . 当我弟弟收到我妹妹来信时，似乎很高兴。

2. look 可用于进行时，而 seem , appear 一般不能。如：

He is looking very happy. 他现在看起来很高兴。

3. appear 和 seem 之后可接动词不定式的一般式、完成式以及其他形式，而 look 之后除了能接to be 结构外，不接其它动词不定式形式。

She appeared to agree with you. 他好象同意你的意见。

They don’t seem to have read this novel. 他们好象没有读过这本小说。

4. look , seem 能与介词 like 构成习语，意思是“看上去象”，而 appear 却不能。例如：

It seems like years since I last saw you . 自从上次见到你后，好象很久没有见到你了。

He looks like a farm.他看起来象个农民。

5. seem , look 后均可接 as if , as though 引导的表语从句，从句中既可用陈述语气也可用虚拟语气，而 appear 则不能。例如：

It seemed / looked as if he had been to Beijing. 看起来他去过北京。

6. appear 和seem 均可接 that 引导的从句，而 look 不能。

It seems / appears that we won’t finish this work today. 我们好象今天完不成这项工作。

7. appear 和 seem 可用于there be 结构中，而 look 不能。如：

There appears to have been an accident . 好象出了一次事故。

一、使用seem和appear的句型：

1．It seems ／appears（to sb．）＋ that-clause

It seems ／appears to me that they are right．我觉得他们似乎是正确的。

It seemed ／appeared that he enjoyed the food very much．看来他好像很喜欢吃这种食品。

2．Sb．／Sth．seems ／appears ＋to do                                  He seems ／appears to be a musician．他似乎是一个音乐家。

She seemed ／appeared to have caught a cold．她好像感冒了。                （上述两种句型含义基本一样，都可作“看来／似乎是……”，二者可相互转换）

He seems ／appears to have known about the secret．（＝It seems ／appears that he has known about the secret．）他似乎已知道这个秘密。

3There seems ／appears to be                                     There seems to be no difficulties to be discussed．看来没有什么难题要讨论。  There appears to have been a mistake．好像有错误。

二、使用look和seem的句型：                                         1．It looks ／seems as if．．．表示“看起来……；似乎……”。使用该句型应注意的是：若从句表示的是很可能实现的事情，从句谓语用陈述语气；若从句表示的是与事实相反的假设或实现的可能性很小的事情时，则从句谓语要用虚拟语气 It seems as if he has been at the scene of the crime似乎他好像在犯罪现场。

When a pencil is partly in a glass of water，it looks as if it were broken．如果把一枝铅笔的一部分放入水杯中，它看上去似乎是断了。

2．Sb．／Sth．looks ／seems like                                       The building looks like a school．这建筑物看起来像所学校。                  It seems like years since I last saw you．自从我上次见到你好像有几年了。

三、seem，appear和look的区别

seem，appear和look虽都有“看起来像”的意思，但三者仍有差别。 seem常含有基本接近事实的意义；appear多指从外表判断，一般与事实不符；look则着重指从外表而得到的印象，所得出的判断有可能与事实相符，也有可能与事实不符。

一、基本区别
　　look 指视觉印象，appear 指外表给人的印象，这两者可能是真象也可能是假象，appear的不确定性更大一些，seem 侧重指根据某种迹象作出的推断，也不一定是事实。
　　二、后接不定式的问题
　　三者均可后接不定式，但 look 之后一般只限于 to be(且较少见)：
　　He seems [appears, looks] to be very tired. 他好像很累了。
　　He seems [appears] to have traveled a lot. 他似乎去过不少地方。
　　This seems to be a happy solution. 这似乎是一个理想的解决办法。
　　但是不说He looks to have traveled a lot.
　　三、后接like的问题
　　look, seem 之后可接介词 like，但 appear 之后一般不能：
　　He just looks like his brother. 他的模样就像他的哥哥。
　　He seems like a fool. 他看起来像个傻瓜。
　　四、用于进行时态的问题
　　appear 和seem不用于进行时态，但look有时可这样用(尽管较少见)：
　　He looks [is looking] well. 他看上去气色不错。
　　但是不说He is seeming [appearing] well.
　　五、用于it开头的句子
　　三者均可用于 it 开头的句子，且三者之后均可接以 as if 或 as though 引导的从句，另外 appear 和 seem 之后还可接 that 引导的从句：
　　It looks [seems, appears] as if he has lost interest in his job. 看来他对自己的工作已失去了兴趣。
　　It seems [appears] that he is very tired. 他似乎很累了。
　　为避免重复，appear和seem后接的 that 从句有时可用so, not 代之：
　　“Is he reliable? ” “It seems [appears] so (not).”“他可靠吗?”“似乎是可靠的(不可靠)。”