Why would it appear?

Question

"It would appear..." vs. "It appears...""It would seem..." vs. "It seems..."+++What, if anything, is the difference? If there is none, how do we account for the "would" form?

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(Email Removed) on 05 Nov 2003:
[nq:1]"It would appear..." vs. "It appears..." "It would seem..." vs. "It seems..." +++ What, if anything, is the difference? If there is none, how do we account for the "would" form?[/nq]
This is probably a subjunctive hangover or one of those uses of modals that makes things even more tentative than the main verb does. It seems similar to "I should think that you'd be tired of saying so".

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[nq:1]"It would appear..." vs. "It appears..." "It would seem..." vs. "It seems..." +++ What, if anything, is the difference? If there is none, how do we account for the "would" form?[/nq]
I throw in the "would" in order to express some doubt in the correctness of what follows.
For example, if a neighbor has been out of town and now the leaves have been raked and the grass cut, and I know he does his own yard work, although I haven't actually seen him I might remark that, "It seems he's back." If, however, I don't know whether he does his own yard work, I might weaken the statement by saying, "It would seem that he's back," there being an implied "if in fact he does his own yard work."

John Varela
(Trade "OLD" lamps for "NEW" for email.)
I apologize for munging the address but the spam is too much.

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[nq:1]What, if anything, is the difference? If there is none, how do we account for the "would" form?[/nq]
They're hedging their bets.

Dena Jo
(Email: Replace TPUBGTH with denajo2)

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[nq:1]"It would appear..." vs. "It appears..." "It would seem..." vs. "It seems..." What, if anything, is the difference? If there is none, how do we account for the "would" form?[/nq]
It is an indicator of civilization.

1. When we first learn to speak, we cansay only things like "I want sugar."

2. Parents and other adults then teachthe child to say "I want sugar please."
The new word adds nothing to the
agent or his request: but is preferred
by the social organization to which the
child now belongs.

3. In larger social organizations (theschool, the nation, etc.) we learn that
our language is more effective when
so phrased as to please the community
(rather than strictly to issue commands
or promulgate information.)
The British use of expressions like those cited
was a class-specific manifestation of #3.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)

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[nq:1]"It would appear..." vs. "It appears..." "It would seem..." vs. "It seems..." +++ What, if anything, is the difference? If there is none, how do we account for the "would" form?[/nq]
"It appears" or "It seems" assert definite propositions, which we are to take as facts.
The "would" transforms the statement from the indicative mood to the subjunctive mood. The subjunctive is quite a package of goods, but here it is the so-called "potential subjunctive", which "represents something as not actually belonging to the domain of fact or reality, but as merely existent in the mind as a conception (or) thought" (Curme, English Grammar , #115), and more particularly the "polite" subjunctive of modest or cautious statements:
It were wise to do so.
I had better do it.
This would appear to confirm his statement.
In short, the change is from a definite assertion to a "hedged bet", a conditional or possible thing, an idea .
(But have a care: the "politeness" or "hedging of bets" can be transformed, by context and tone, into virtual sarcasm: "Why did he do such a thing? It would seem he's a blithering idiot.")

Cordially,
Eric Walker
My opinions on English are available at
http://owlcroft.com/english/

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on 06 Nov 2003:
[nq:2]"It would appear..." vs. "It appears..." "It would seem..." vs. ... is none, how do we account for the "would" form?[/nq]
[nq:1]"It appears" or "It seems" assert definite propositions, which we are to take as facts.[/nq]
Not in technical writing they don't. They are qualified statements that fall short of factual declarations, for which one would need to say, "It is".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]"It would appear..." vs. "It appears..." "It would seem..." vs. ... is none, how do we account for the "would" form?[/nq]
[nq:1]"It appears" or "It seems" assert definite propositions, which we are to take as facts. The "would" transforms the statement ... context and tone, into virtual sarcasm: "Why did he do such a thing? It would seem he's a blithering idiot.")[/nq]
Thanks.

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[nq:2]"It appears" or "It seems" assert definite propositions, which we are to take as facts.[/nq]
[nq:1]Not in technical writing they don't. They are qualified statements that fall short of factual declarations, for which one would need to say, "It is".[/nq]
Different levels of abstraction: "It seems that the machine is broken" is a qualified statement about the machine, but a definite assertion about the seeming. When we shift to the subjunctive and say "It would seem that the machine is broken", we are making even the seeming qualified "It seems that it seems that", in effect.

Cordially,
Eric Walker
My opinions on English are available at
http://owlcroft.com/english/

Usenet · Answer

on 07 Nov 2003:
[nq:2]Not in technical writing they don't. They are qualified statements that fall short of factual declarations, for which one would need to say, "It is".[/nq]
[nq:1]Different levels of abstraction: "It seems that the machine is broken" is a qualified statement about the machine, but a definite assertion about the seeming.[/nq]
That's fair enough. I would translate "It seems that the machine is broken" into "It seems to me* that the machine is broken" or, IOW, "*I think that the machine is broken". I don't see the necessity of talking about the "fact" that I think what I think.
[nq:1]When we shift to the subjunctive and say "It would seem that the machine is broken", we are making even the seeming qualified "It seems that it seems that", in effect.[/nq]
I think this subjunctive has one of two meanings. The first is "I am not quite sure enough about what is wrong to say anything definite about it, but one hypothesis that might be worth considering is that the machine is broken". The second is "I know it looks as if the machine is broken, but, in fact, the machine is working perfectly. The real problem is X". The first possibility is a much more tentative statement of what might be the problem, as you suggest, and the second deals with an unreal condition.

Why would it appear?

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