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Moon7296 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

seems to have been

1. Mary seems to be beautiful.
2. Mary seems to have been beautiful.
3. It seems that Mary was beautiful.
4. It seems that Mary has been beauituful.

Q1) Does #4 sound Okay?
Q2) Is there any difference in meaning between #2 and #3 and #4? If so, between #3 and #4, which is the closest in meaning to #2.
  

Top answer

1. Not really. It seems an odd thing to say.

— Enoon

  • 1.
  • Not really.
  • It seems an odd thing to say.
  • I can't think of a use for it.
  • 2.
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9 Answers
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1. Not really. It seems an odd thing to say. I can't think of a use for it.

2. The second and third sentences are roughly the same.
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enoon2. The second and third sentences are roughly the same.
Ah.. then is the slight difference between the second and third sentences is the point of time? i.e. #2 means she has been pretty (until today because the plastic surgery she got today screwed up her face) and #3 means she was pretty and is not now?
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Yeah, I don't know. There are many contexts for your two sentences, and they are more similar in some, and less so in others. What evidence do you have that she was ever pretty?
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I thought the focus is the tense present perfect and simple past so I thought #2 is the same as "Mary has been pretty" except "Mary seems" part.

Evidence I can think of for "she was ever pretty" is this; I thought she was pretty when I was her classmate in Grade 6 but when I came across her on the street in a few years I didn't think she is pretty anymore.
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moon7296 I thought the focus is the tense present perfect and simple past so I thought #2 is the same as "Mary has been pretty" except "Mary seems" part. Evidence I can think of for "she was ever pretty" is this; I thought she was pretty when I was her classmate in Grade 6 but when I came across her on the street in a few years I didn't think she is pretty anymore.
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moon7296I thought the focus is the tense present perfect and simple past so I thought #2 is the same as "Mary has been pretty" except "Mary seems" part. Evidence I can think of for "she was ever pretty" is this; I thought she was pretty when I was her classmate in Grade 6 but when I came across her on the street in a few years I didn't think s
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Ah.. thank you I got it.
Sorry that I'm asking quite complicated idea.

1) She seemed to have been under the influence when I found her because her speech was impeded.
2) She seemed to be under the influence when I found her because her speech was impeded.

If looks like the meaning of 1) and 2) are the same.

If the meaning of 1) and 2
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Native speakers are not always as careful with their tenses as I would like. The difference in meaning embodied in the verbs in those two sentences is certain to be completely ignored in speech, and almost certainly in writing. They both mean what sentence two means.

If you read carefully with nitpicker in hand, "she seemed to have been under the influence when I found her" strictly means
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enoonNative speakers are not always as careful with their tenses as I would like. The difference in meaning embodied in the verbs in those two sentences is certain to be completely ignored in speech, and almost certainly in writing. They both mean what sentence two means.If you read carefully with nitpicker in hand, "she seem
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