Sensory perception vs reported perception
Everyone seems happy.
Does everyone in this sentence have an interpretation of sensory perception, or reported perception?
I’ve been motivated to ask this because the subeject of verbs such as seem and sound can be interpreted either as th evidence for sensory perception or reported perception, about which I give some examples below.
John sounds nice. (sensory)
(I’ve heard the forecast and) tomorrow’s weather sounds nice. (reported)
My question is, does the everyone sentence accept just one of the interpretations, or does it accept both?
Top answer
YukiKanda Everyone seems happy. Most probably it is describing what you directly perceive yourself, but in a certain context it could be reporting what someone else has said. YukiKanda John sounds nice.
- YukiKanda Everyone seems happy.
- Most probably it is describing what you directly perceive yourself, but in a certain context it could be reporting what someone else has said.
- YukiKanda John sounds nice.
- (sensory) Most probably this is describing what you feel about him based on what other people have said.
- It could be describing your own direct perception if, for example, you have heard him speak on the telephone but not met him.
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YukiKandaEveryone seems happy.
Most probably it is describing what you directly perceive yourself, but in a certain context it could be reporting what someone else has said.
YukiKandaJohn sounds nice. (sensory)
Most probably this is describing what you feel about him based on what other people have said. It could
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