seem

Please help me the usage of "seem"
I don't know which case is right:
1/ You seem to be good at singing
2/ You seem good at singging
Can we use adj after seem, how about "seem to be"
Thanks in advance :P

[Francois]

Both are correct.

FRC

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by cherish

Please help me the usage of "seem"
I don't know which case is right:
1/ You seem to be good at singing
2/ You seem good at singging
Can we use adj after seem, how about "seem to be"
Thanks in advance :P

seem(s) to be + adjective is a set phrase, and so the to be part is often omitted, like this,

You seem to be happy ~ You seem happy.
He seems to be nice ~ He seems nice.
They seem to be kind ~ They seem kind.

If you add a noun after the adjective, you can't omit 'to be' but you can replace 'to be' with 'like',

You seem to be a happy person. :D (OK)
You seem a happy person. :( (Not OK)
You seem like a happy person. :D (OK)

He seems to be a nice guy. :D
He seems a nice guy. :(
He seems like a nice guy. :D

They seem to be kind people. :D
They seem kind people. :(
They seem like kind people. :D

All the best,

[petertsui]

Originally Posted by Casiopea

seem(s) to be + adjective is a set phrase, and so the to be part is often omitted, like this,

You seem to be happy ~ You seem happy.
He seems to be nice ~ He seems nice.
They seem to be kind ~ They seem kind.

If you add a noun after the adjective, you can't omit 'to be' but you can replace 'to be' with 'like',

You seem to be a happy person. :D (OK)
You seem a happy person. :( (Not OK)
You seem like a happy person. :D (OK)

He seems to be a nice guy. :D
He seems a nice guy. :(
He seems like a nice guy. :D

They seem to be kind people. :D
They seem kind people. :(
They seem like kind people. :D

All the best,

Is it okay to say:

What seems to be your problem?
What seems like your problem?

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by petertsui

Is it okay to say:

What seems to be your problem?
What seems like your problem?

Only the first is correct, IMO.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by petertsui

Is it okay to say:

What seems to be your problem?
What seems like your problem?

I agree with Mike. :D

I. Your problem seems to be what?
seems (to be) + adjective:
a) Your problem seems to be real. :D
b) Your problem seems real. :D

II. Your problem seems to be what?
seems like + noun phrase:
a) Your problem seems like a real problem. :D

III. What seems to be your problem?
'What' refers to an unknown problem. Since we don't know yet what the problem is, we can't used 'seems like'.
a) What seems to be your problem? :D
b) What seems like your problem? :(

If we know the problem, then we can use 'seems like', like this,

What seems (i.e. appears) to be your problem doesn't to me seem like a real problem. :D