She seemed to listen vs. She seemed to be listening to the news

[Raf]

Hello,

I know I can say this about a concrete point in the past:
- She seemed to be listening to the news.
But is it correct if I say "She seemed to listen to the news"? in the same situation?

Thanks in advance!

[Maryann]

Hi, Raf.

Frankly speaking I doupt about using verb to be+ing ending before "seem". It would be more correct to say "She seemed listening to the news" or "She seemed to listen to the news".

Using of a verb "to be" after "seem" leads to the use of a noun or an adjective after it, e.g.
It seemed to be a miracle.
She seemed to be sincere.

Maryann

[Milanya]

She seemed to be listening to the news. - correct

You can say: I seemed that she was listening.
Past Progressive is used when you descrive a state or action ongoing in the past: They were walking in the park. She was listening.
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con·text - The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.

[Maryann]

Milanya, why do you thik that "seemed to listen" is incorrect?

Here is an example of a similiar sentence in Kelley's Armstrong short story "Infusion" "She seemed to struggle for the word..." you can read it here Infusion

another example is here The title

Maryann

[Milanya]

Milanya, why do you thik that "seemed to listen" is incorrect?
It is not incorrect. It has a slightly different meaning than She semed to be listening

The question was

[Maryann]

I was refering to you remark as to the incorect Tense usage of the sentence "She seemed to listen". But you've deleted it already.

By the way can you explain the difference between "she seemed to be listening" and "she seemed to listen", please.

Maryann

[Raf]

Many thanks to both of you for your explanations. And yes, Milanya, could you explain the difference between the two forms?

[Esl_Expert]

Hello Raf,

If you tacked the word "daily" onto the end of each sentence, for example, then there would not be much difference between your two sentences other than the fact that the continuous form adds a sense of duration.

However, if your reference is to one specific time in the past, then it is much less likely that your sentences could be used interchangeably.

[Alan]

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Hi Raf,

The idea of 'seem to do something' is related to the idea of giving an impression of doing something as in: When I explained the grammar of the sentence, she seemed to understand. The suggestion here is that you believe that she understood as far as you were concerned. The idea of 'seem to be doing something' is a reference to something apparently taking place as in: When I explained the grammar of the sentence, she seemed to be thinking about it. In other words you 'saw' the process of her thinking.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple