"It seems to be good" OR "It seems good"

Question

1. The car seems to be quite old.
2. The car seems quite old.

Are the both fine? Explain.

Thank you.

Answer 1

They're both grammatically correct, but the first sentence is needlessly wordy. Since it's not clear how something can "seem quite old" without "seeming to be quite old", both sentences mean exactly the same thing. I would go with the second sentence.

Answer 2

Both sentences are fine and they mean the same thing. (There may be a very subtle difference in close analysis, but not enough to make any practical difference at all.)

Which you use is a matter of preference. Speaking just personally, I would use the first form because I find it's a slightly awkward transition in pronunciation between seems (-s) and quite (q-). But moving from *seems (-s) to to (t-) is an easier movement for the tongue.

Which is a long way of saying that the first sentence flows better for me, both in terms of hearing the syllables and consonants working together and also in the ease of speaking the phrase.

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Also, the expression I've grown up hearing far more often is seems to be rather than just seems. So, purely from my own experience, leaving out to be sounds very slightly awkward. I have no idea if it's a regional thing or a matter of dialect. (I'm Canadian, so am influenced by both US and UK English.)

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But they are both perfectly acceptable.

Answer 3

As it said they are both correct. First one is more formal used when you only expect something without knowing much. Like when you read a book title, You say "it seems to be fine/bad/..." But you say "it seems fine/bad/..." when you read a little like a couple of lines.