Hello, everyone!
1. He seems to be happy.
2. It seems that he is happy. (formal style)
3. It seems like (as if) he is happy. (informal style)
1. Sentence 1 ; I think that 'to infinitive' functions as subject complement (that is, subject + intransitive verb + subject complement).
2. Sentence 2 and 3 ; I think that
1) 'it' functions as extraposed it to put 'end focus',
2) the conjunctions - 'that' and 'like', 'as if' in informal style - lead not a subject complement but a real subject clause (that is, subject + complete intransitive verb + real subject clause).
In above Sentence 2 and 3 'seems' is justified to function as an complete intransitive verb, which leads a real subject clause?
To summarize my questions;
1. the 'seems' in the sentence #1 and #2, 3 are functioning different;
- sentence #1; 'seems' is an incomplete intransitive verb, which leads to infinitive - 'to be' - as a subject complement.
- sentence #2, 3; 'seems' is a complete intransitive verb, which leads with conjunctions - 'that, like, as if' - a real subject clause (not a subject complement clause) due to extraposed it.
2. Thus, the syntax isn't the same between the sentence #1, which begins with the personal pronoun - 'he', and the sentence #2, 3, which begins with the impersonal pronoun - 'it'.
Thanks in advance,
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