What is the meaning of the sentence?

Question

I saw a sentence in a novel. The sentence is "It was strange to her to see Peter looking as he looked now", but I can't understand the meaning of the sentence.
what is the meaning of the sentence?
I think the key problems is on grammar relations, but I have no idea.
The novel and the sentence can be found in the webpage:
http://english.zgxue.com/html/75/759144.html

Please help me. Thanks a lot in advance.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

"It was strange to her to see Peter looking as he looked now"

Most of the verbs of sense work both ways.
I can smell you. You smell bad.
I'm looking at you. You look funny.
I'm feeling your face. You feel hot.
(Your skin is hot to my touch. We also say, "I feel hot," meaning "I'm uncomfortably warm.")

Peter had a look about him which she had not seen before. To her, at the time, it was strange.

You're looking good this morning!

Peter has not been looking well lately.

She looks like a million bucks!

She's looking like she's about to vomit.

As he looked now = the way he now appeared.

She had never before seen him running the way he now ran.

It was strange to her to see nim running as he now ran.

Eagleflych · Answer

Thank you for your replies.
If I don't misunderstand, in the sentence, the three words of "see", "looking" and "looked" have the same time quality. That is to say, "see", "looking" and "looked" exist at the same time.
Supposing the time is A time, then "to see Peter looking as he looked now" can be transformed into "at A time, to see that A time's appearance of Peter is the same as A time's appearance of Peter".
It seems to be illogical, doesn't it?

Brightbilly · Answer

The difference between see - look
When you see something, you are aware of it through your eyes, or you notice it.
When you look at something, you direct your eyes towards it.

The verb see is used with several different meanings, the past tense of see is saw, its past particible is seen.

See is often used to mean 'understand'. If you see what I mean.
When making an arrangement to 'visit' or 'meet' with someone. It would be a good idea for you to see a doctor.
Attending to something. If you see that something is done or see to it that it is done. I will see to it.

Look and see
Have a look at your wife's face to see if she's blushing.

CalifJim · Answer

eagleflychIt was strange to her to see Peter looking as he looked now.

Seeing Peter made her feel strange because he did not look the same as he usually looked. (He did not have the same appearance as he usually had.)

(Maybe he seemed tired or ill, or maybe his clothes were shabby. In any case she thought that he seemed different from usual. In this specific case he looked older, as you know from the rest of the sentence!

)

Are you enjoying The Chronicles of Narnia?
__________________

Grammatically, you are dealing with an infinitive of reason (to see Peter ...), not an infinitive of purpose. That may be part of your confusion. [An infinitive of purpose tells the goal: We travelled to Rome to see the Pope. An infinitive of reason gives the cause: The Pope was amazed to see us.]

Here's a famous nursery rhyme which contains an example of an infinitive of reason.

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

CJ

Avangi · Answer

"It was strange to her to see Peter looking as he looked now"

eagleflych If I don't misunderstand, in the sentence, the three words of "see", "looking" and "looked" have the same time quality. That is to say, "see", "looking" and "looked" exist at the same time.

Yes, these all refer to the same time frame.
The only real "finite" time frame expressed is simple past: "It was strange." "He looked" is also simple past, but it's not a main verb. The non-finite verbals (to see; looking) don't have a tense.
In terms of time factor, the use of the word "now" can be confusing because it suggests present tense. It gives the same feeling as the historical present. "She was now feeling better."

It seems to be illogical, doesn't it?

There's nothing illogical about, "I've never seen you looking as beautiful as you now look," or, "I'm happy to see you looking as healthy as you now look." (This is present tense.)

Past tense: I was happy to see you looking as healthy as you now looked.

What is the meaning of the sentence?

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