look, appear, seem这三个词都是表示状态的系动词，它们均可译为“看来，好像，似乎”之意。但是，它们在各自用法上却有所不同。

　　1. look通常强调由视觉得出的印象，而实际上也可能会如此，常常译为“看起来，好像”。例句：

　　(1) He looks quite old. 他看起来年纪很大了。

　　(2) She looks young for her age. 她看上比实际年龄年轻。

　　2. seem意为此意时，指有一定根据的判断，并且这种判断往往接近于事实，含有强烈的真实性。它要译为“似乎，好像”。例句：

　　(1) The problem seems very difficult. 这个问题看起来很难。

　　(2) The sentence seems to him to be a little bit difficult. 这个句子对他似乎有点儿难。

　　3. appear则强调外表给人留下的印象，有时含有“实际上并非如此”之意。它常可译为“显得，好像”。例句：

　　(1) The teacher appears quite old. 这位老师显得很老。

　　(2) It appears to me that he is a fool. 我看他像个傻子。

　　4. look和seem后面可以接like短语或as if / though状语从句，而appear却不能。例如：

　　(1) It looked / seemed like to rain. 天好像要下雨了。

　　(2) It looked / seemed as if / though I would wait for another month. 好像我还得再等一个月。

　　在as if状语从句中，如果说的是不真实的事情，应该用虚拟语气，但如果说的是可能的或是真实的事情，则用正常语气。例如：

　　(3) You look as if you don't care. 你看上去并不在意。

　　(4) It seems as if it were spring already. (虚拟语气)现在仿佛已经是春天了。

　　5. seem和appear都可用于there be句型中，而look则不能。例如：

　　(1) There seems / appears (to be) something wrong about it. 好像有点儿不对劲儿。

　　(2) There seemed / appeared to be an old castle near the river. 河边好像有座旧城堡。

　　6. seem和appear后面可以接不定式或that从句，而look则不能。例如：

　　(1) The baby seems / appears to be ill. 这个婴儿好像病了。

　　(2) It seemed / appeared that the man got angry. 那个人看起来生气了。

　　若接that从句时，只能用it作形式主语，构成It seems / appears that...结构。例句：

　　(3) It seems that nobody knew what had happened. 看来没有人知道发生了什么事。

　　(4) It seems to me that someone is calling. 我仿佛感到有人在叫(我)。

　　(文/李海燕；英语辅导报小学教师版04~05学年第26期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)