seems and sentential complement

[Shalom Lappin]

Hi Tibor,
     I have to disagree with the Bochum dialect on this one, despite its
authorative antiquity. 'seems' (like 'appears') does not require a 'that'
complementizer with a tensed complement, at least not in my Canadian English.
Your 3 is as good as the other two examples that you cite, as are the following.

1. It seems/appears Mary is happy.
2. It seems/appears Sam will arrive on time after all.
3. It seems/appears John gave the paper to his professor.
4. It seems/appears that Max would rather go to New York than Paris.

Regards.
                                                   Shalom

Tibor Kiss wrote:

> Hi,
>
> since I was so successful recently in asking questions about English, I try
> again. Very simple question this time: Is it correct that 'seem' requires
> a that-complement if its complement is finite, i.e. is the following
> distribution correct?
>
> (1) John seems to be certain to leave.
> (2) It seems that John is certain to leave.
> (3) *It seems John is certain to leave.
>
> Thanks,
>
> T.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Prof. Dr. Tibor Kiss -- Sprachwissenschaftliches Institut
> Ruhr-Universität Bochum, D-44780 Bochum
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> What is present now will later be passed.