seems surprisingly vs seems to surprise

Both phrases are correct, but they have different meanings and usage. 'Seems surprisingly' is used to express that something appears unexpectedly or unusually, while 'seems to surprise' is used to indicate that something gives the impression of causing surprise to someone.

Last updated: March 23, 2024 • 1050 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to express that something appears unexpectedly or unusually.

"seems surprisingly"

This phrase is used to describe situations where something appears to be surprising or unexpected.

Examples:

The results of the experiment seems surprisingly accurate.
She seems surprisingly calm given the circumstances.
His decision seems surprisingly rational.
The movie seems surprisingly short.
The new product seems surprisingly popular.

Show examples from the web [+]

Dr. Parrish, and Dr. Fargo seems surprisingly adamant.
Yet the man at the center of this controversy seems surprisingly unaffected by the furor surrounding him.
Despite a challenging year, your team seems to be functioning surprisingly well.
It all seems to be going surprisingly well.
Surprisingly it seems that not all Member States have such deadlines, hence your Rapporteur's proposal for a new recital recommending these measures.
What is at issue here is a tradition, not the invalidity of security policy, as surprisingly often seems to be thought.
This is not only contradictory to the idea of a true Youth Pact and the Parliament's APS resolution but, somewhat surprisingly, seems to go against even the Commission priority in its own APS communication.
He seems to be handling it surprisingly well.
Doesn't seem to have been any neural damage, and his vitals are surprisingly strong.
And even more surprisingly, the owner of the car in question didn't seem to notice.
Surprisingly for a lawyer, he does not seem to know that very similar arrangements exist with the European Union.
Simplification of the existing visa regime with Georgia has never been placed on the EU's agenda and, surprisingly, it seems that this country is being punished for its aspirations towards European values and reforms.
Little creatures, rats and house mice, they would seem to be able to exist without us are surprisingly quite dependent on our food supplies.

Alternatives:

appears unexpectedly
looks surprisingly
feels surprisingly
comes across as surprisingly
is surprisingly

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English to indicate that something gives the impression of causing surprise to someone.

"seems to surprise"

This phrase is used to describe situations where something appears to be causing surprise to someone.

Examples:

The magician's tricks seem to surprise the audience every time.
Her sudden appearance seemed to surprise him.
The news seemed to surprise everyone in the room.
The unexpected turn of events seems to surprise the characters.
The ending of the book seems to surprise readers.

Show examples from the web [+]

Everything about your wife seems to surprise you.
Simpler these officer-involved cases look, the more surprises seem to pop up.
It seems Emily has a surprise for us.
This may seem something of a surprise, but the main thing is that we all want Miss Audrey restored to her rightful position as soon as possible.
I seem to remember you Throwing Michael a little surprise party last year.
Homeland security officials in Washington seem to have been taken completely by surprise.
For once we seem to have caught Lee by surprise.
Much to my surprise, there seems to be some degree of truth to your tale.
I want to throw my husband a surprise party, but I can't seem to get into his address book.
The External Action Service led by Baroness Ashton seems to have been caught by surprise and in my opinion is now demonstrating a poor response capacity.
It always seems to me to come as a complete surprise to politicians how countries get in debt.
Yet the international community, with certain exceptions, seems to have been taken by surprise by the way in which this tragedy has unfolded.
And in a development that seems to have taken American officials by surprise, the Soviet Union has granted the request of 1,500 Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel.
That surprises me, because it seems to me that you are indulging in masochism.
I will not hide the fact that this surprises me greatly, because it seems to me that the question of Ukraine's European identity should not be a matter of dispute.
Now, what does surprise me is that, given you know what we are capable of, you still seem to think you can negotiate.
But there is no doubt that our diplomatic fragmentation and, in spite of the mechanisms of intergovernmental cooperation, the lack of a real understanding between the governments, means that the European Union seems to have been taken by surprise.
To surprise them, got to surprise yourself first.
While competition seems to be relatively high for household mortgages, the uncollateralised consumer credit market seems to be less competitive.
Lure him? Yes, we have to surprise him.

Alternatives:

appears to be surprising
gives the impression of surprising
looks like a surprise
gives the appearance of surprising
appears to cause surprise

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seems surprisingly vs seems to surprise