Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

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539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

Modality | 675

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Appear

, feel, look, seem and sound occur frequently with dummy it as 

subject:

It 

appears there was a technical fault.

It 

feels as if they’re all criticising me.

It 

looks like you didn’t get very much sleep last night.

It 

seems as if you put these papers in the wrong order.

It 

sounds as if she’s going to retire soon.

Tend to 

is increasingly heard in everyday spoken language to refer to what is

typically true or to habitual actions:

[hairdresser asking customer how she likes to have her hair]

Do you 

tend to like to have it forward like that, swept over, with a bit down,

like that?

I 

tend to like to save my money and spend it when I go to London.

There is considerable flexibility in the complementation patterns allowed with

these verbs, though there are restrictions, sometimes determined by degrees of

formality.