When something appears to be true or likely then we can use this sentence pattern.
We must always use “it” at the beginning of this sentence pattern. We cannot change to a different subject.
He seems that…
However, we can use any subject after “that” or after “seems”. The word “that” is optional.
- It seems that he is sick.
- It seems she is lost.
- It seems that the restaurant is popular.
- It seems the TV is broken.
It seems (that) + sentence
- It seems that the restaurant is closed today. All the lights are off and nobody is inside.
- It seems he doesn’t want to work here anymore.
- It seems that she is hard to work with.
- It seems that you don’t know what you are doing.
- It seems that they have no patience.
- It seems the show will not start on time.
- It seems that they are not in love anymore.
We can also make a negative sentence when something does not appear to be true or to be likely. We can do this in two ways.
It doesn’t seem (that) + sentence
- It doesn’t seem that they will get married.
- It does not seem that you like your job.
- It doesn’t seem that this restaurant is very popular.
When we are making a negative sentence with “seem” we have two choices.
- It seems that he doesn’t want to come.
- It doesn’t seem that he wants to come.
Both sentences have the same meaning. The only thing that changes is the location of “does not”.
Bonus Tips and Points
1. We can talk about a past observation with these sentence patterns.
It seemed (that) + sentence
It didn’t seem (that) + sentence
- I saw them last weekend. It seemed that they were having a big fight.
- It didn’t seem that they were friends when met them.
2. It is also very common to use adjectives after the word “seem”.
- It seems good.
- It seems hard.
- It doesn’t seem difficult.
- It does not seem practical.
- It seemed very confusing.
- It didn’t seem interesting.
Real-World English Conversations
A) I think they love each other very much.
B) Really? It doesn’t seem that they love each other to me.
A) It doesn’t seem that you are having fun.
B) I’m bored. Can we go home now?
A) It doesn’t seem that he will come.
B) You’re right. It appears that he will not come.
A) You said it was going to rain.
B) I did say that, but it doesn’t seem that it will rain. There aren’t any clouds in the sky.
A) It seems that you love your family very much.
B) They are the most important thing in the world to me.
A) What do you think of about this Spanish language book?
B) It seems too easy for you.
A) Really? I thought it seemed too hard for me.
A) She seems nice.
B) She is very nice to people she doesn’t know, but if you have to work with her then she can be a real nightmare.
Use these free English lessons to learn the most common sentence patterns in the English language. If you learn these sentences and questions, it will help you speak English well. Study the lessons thoroughly, practice making your own sentences, and come back to review often. If you do these three steps, your English speaking will improve quickly and you will be able to have natural English conversations.
English Sentence Patterns for Speaking Index
