Is "They cannot seem to understand" proper English?

[thedaveformula]

I've typed the line "They cannot seem to understand the nature of the problem", it rolled off the tongue, but I'm analysing it and I don't see how it can make any sense. Shouldn't it be "It seems they cannot understand ..."

[Quizmonster]

I had no idea that "go ahead and + verb" WAS an Americanism!

Even assuming it is, I am far from being one of those who detest ALL such trans-oceanic linguistic constructs; indeed, I have long been a stalwart - often solitary - supporter on AnswerBank of the greater vitality of American English as compared with our own. Consequently, I shall happily continue saying "go ahead and..." caring not a whit for anyone who might find it annoying.

[MarkRae]

Well, good for you...

[ludwig]

I haven't read any of the other answers, I'm just going to steam in straight in with my opinion, which may be repeating what's already been said.

'They cannot seem to understand..' doesn't make sense.
'It seems they cannot understand..' is fine.

Other acceptable versions are..
'They do not seem to understand..'
'They seem incapable of understanding..'

[MarkRae]

> They cannot seem to understand..
> They do not seem to understand..

Other than the modal verb, those two phrases are identical - if the first makes no sense, then neither does the second...

[ludwig]

// those two phrases are identical //

..not really mark. Even if the first one made sense, 'can not' surely has a different meaning to 'do not'?

[MarkRae]

LOL! But it's the same grammatical construct, so if one is ungrammatical then so is the other!

Are both of the phrases below grammatical or not, irrespective of subtlety of meaning?

They cannot go to school.
They do not go to school.

[ludwig]

Both those phrases look fine to me. Thing is though, they don't have the word 'seem' stuck in there, which makes a difference.
The difference being the top one becomes 'incorrect', but the bottom one still looks fine.

[MarkRae]

> Thing is though, they don't have the word 'seem' stuck in there, which makes a difference.

No it doesn't.


> The difference being the top one becomes 'incorrect',

No it doesn't, not even in inverted commas...


What does the verb "to seem" mean to you...?

[ludwig]

// No it doesn't. //

er..yes it does.

// What does the verb "to seem" mean to you...? //
I fell this is a trick question or something. Why don't you explain to me why you think 'They cannot seem to understand' makes sense - if you've explained it earler in the thread, just say so and I'll go back and look, save you repeating yourself.

[MarkRae]

My first reply.

[jno]

the distinction also looks clear enough to me, ludwig. "They do not seem" descibes the way they look to me. "They cannot seem" describes their ability to seem, which is almost certainly not what is intended (though almost everyone in this thread has managed to understand it).

[ludwig]

// As has been correctly pointed out, "they cannot seem to understand" means that they are incapable of giving the impression that they understand, not necessarily that they don't actually understand. //

Here's why I think this is wrong. Because 'seeming' is not something the observed person is actively capable of - 'seeming' is something that happens in the eye of the beholder as it were.

So your assertion that to say 'They cannot seem to understand' equates to saying 'they are incapable of giving the impression they understand' is just not right.
The correct way of saying this would be 'They cannot appear to understand'.

jno - //"They cannot seem" describes their ability to seem // Yes, which is semantically nonsense - no-one has an ability to seem or a lack of ability to seem - it's like having an ability to yes, or an ability to backwards.

I'm not trying to be deliberately argumentative Mark - that's just how I see it.

[ludwig]

sorry if anyone replies and I appear to ignore it - I'm off to bed

[MarkRae]

> I'm not trying to be deliberately argumentative Mark - that's just how I see it.

I'm sure it is...

[MarkRae]

> The correct way of saying this would be 'They cannot appear to understand'.

LOL!

[swedeheart]

Just wanna say (for posterity, lol) that I do understand the criticism. I've just been trying to establish whether or not it's CONSIDERED "proper English", and apparently it is, by Oxford Dictionaries as well as by Merriam-Webster. It is odd. But there you have it. I still think this turn of phrase may have come about at a time in history when 'seem' had a slightly different meaning to the one it has now (see my first post) and it has stuck even though the meaning changed. Well, it's a hypothesis anyway. G'night folks:)

[ludwig]

//The correct way of saying this would be 'They cannot appear to understand'.
LOL! //

On second thoughts you're probably right - that's nonsense as well - see, I made the same mistake as you! - it's easily done, there's no shame in it.

Anyway Dave, I'm sure your question has been answered. Everyone thinks it's incorrect, except for Mark, who cannot seem to understand why.

[mike11111]

I can't seem to get this thread at all.

[Bbbananas]

I gave the most intelligent answer mike.......... way back when.

Anyway - does anyone really care that much? ;-)

[mike11111]

Not really.