Today’s Grammar Point:  ～とみえる

I have explained how the verb 見みえる is used in a simple sentence in this post. Today, I’m going to talk about ～とみえる which means almost the same as ～らしい. This ～とみえる follows a clause and it means “it seems ～”. A clause is a part of a sentence with a subject and a predicate although in Japanese the subject is often implied, not clearly expressed.

Connections

In Japanese predicate could be a verb, an いadjective or a なadjective/noun with an auxiliary verb, so と見える is used in the following fashion:

• [plain form verb (past\non-past, affirmative negative)] と見みえる
• [いadj stem] い/かった と見みえる
• [なadj]（だ）/だった と見みえる
• [noun] （だ）/だった と見みえる

Examples

ジョンさんはエイミーさんのことがよほど気きになると見みえる。
John seems to be very concerned about Amy.

エイミーさんはジョンさんのことが気きにならないと見みえる。
Amy doesn’t seem to care about John.

雨あめが降ふったと見みえて、草木くさきが青々あおあおとしている。
It look like it rained. The vegetation is lush.

ジョンさんは苦労くろうしたと見みえて、友情ゆうじょうを大切たいせつにする。
It seems John has had a hard time. He cherishes his friendship.

深夜しんやの買かい物もの客きゃくが多おおいと見みえて、あの店みせは営業時間えいぎょうじかんを延長えんちょうした。
As it appears there are many late-night shoppers, the shop has extended its open hours.

エイミーさんは今週こんしゅうとても忙いそがしかったと見みえる。週末しゅうまつになっても、まだ疲つかれているようだ。
Amy seems to have been very busy this week. Even on weekends, she still seems tired.

エイミーさんは桜さくらが好すきだと見みえて、桜さくらの写真しゃしんばかり撮とっている。
Amy seems to like cherry blossoms and only takes pictures of them.

隣となりのうちは留守るすと見みえる。郵便受ゆうびんうけがあふれている。
It seems the next door is away. The mailbox is overflowing.

Difference between ～く/に見みえる and ～と見みえる

Earlier, I said ～く/に見みえる is used in a simple sentence and ～と見みえる is used after a clause. What that really means is that in a ～く/に見みえる sentence, “the subject looks/looked ～,” so the speaker (who is not the subject of the sentence) is making a statement based on a visual information about the subject. On the other hand, ～と見みえる is a general conjecture statement, not necessarily based on a visual piece of information.

エイミーさんは細ほそいと見みえる。
It seems Amy is thin.
This could be guessed from what the speaker has heard or some secondary information.
Cf. エイミーさんは細ほそく見みえる。
Amy looks thin.
This statement is a first hand statement of the speaker based on what he/she saw directly.

ジョンさんは元気げんきだと見みえる。
It seems John is well.
This could be based on a secondary information the speaker obtained.
Cf. ジョンさんは元気げんきに見みえる。
John looks well.
This is a first-hand statement of the speaker based on the visual information the speaker obtained directly.

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