Grammar · Verb Patterns: -ing & Infinitives
Linking Verbs (Seem, Appear, Become, Get)
Verbs that describe how someone seems and how people change, with the adjectives that follow them. Learn them with the film Big, where a boy becomes a man overnight.
Grammar › Verb Patterns: -ing & Infinitives › Linking Verbs (Seem, Appear, Become, Get)
The rule in one sentenceUse seem and appear to describe how someone or something looks from the outside, and become or get to describe a change; all four are followed by an adjective, not an adverb.
About the film
Big (1988) is a comedy starring Tom Hanks. Josh Baskin is twelve, and he is tired of being small. After he makes a wish at a fairground machine, he wakes up the next morning and has become a thirty-year-old man. He seems completely grown up, but inside he is still a child.
What does it do?
Most verbs describe actions: people run, eat or talk. This group is different. The verbs connect a person or thing to a description, a bit like the verb be. When you say Josh seems nervous, you are really saying that Josh is nervous, at least from the outside. That is why an adjective follows, not an adverb.
The verbs split into two groups. Seem and appear describe how a situation looks to other people, often when we are not completely sure. Become and get describe change: something was one way, and now it is different. In Big, both ideas are everywhere, because Josh looks like an adult while he is still learning to be one.
In the first two tiles, nothing changes: we only describe how Josh looks to others. In the last two, something is different from before. Notice that every verb is followed by an adjective, such as shocked, dangerous or worried, or by a noun phrase like an adult.
Josh is confident at the toy company.
Josh seems confident at the toy company. Josh becomes confident at the toy company.
The first sentence states a fact. The seems version tells us how he looks to other people, and the becomes version shows a change: at first he was not confident, but now he is.
Visual guide
Teacher Teddy’s illustrated guide to this rule is being drawn — the full swipe-through infographic will appear here soon.
How to make it
seem / appear — how it looks
Josh seems much older than his best friend Billy.
Josh does not seem to understand the rules of the adult world.
Put do not or does not before seem.Does the new employee seem strange to his boss?
Does goes first; seem stays in its basic form.become / get — a change
Alone in New York, Josh gets scared at night.
Josh does not get bored at work, because the job is all about toys.
Will Josh become comfortable in his new life?
The future works in the usual way.When to use each one
seem / appear — the outside view
become / get — the change
Words that help
These verbs work in the same way. If you can replace the verb with a form of be and the sentence still makes sense, use an adjective after it.
seem → the same idea
become → the same idea
Common mistakes
❌ Josh looks nervously in his new adult body.
✅ Josh looks nervous in his new adult body.
Here look describes Josh himself, not an action, so use an adjective.
❌ The stranger seems being very confused.
✅ The stranger seems to be very confused.
After seem, use to + verb, never the -ing form.
❌ Josh gets a grown man overnight.
✅ Josh becomes a grown man overnight.
Get works with adjectives; before a noun, use become.
❌ Josh gets angrily when he is too short for the ride.
✅ Josh gets angry when he is too short for the ride.
Get links Josh to his feeling, so the adjective angry is correct.
One more thing
This part reaches the top of the level, so come back to it once the main patterns feel natural.
Seem and appear can look back in time, and they can start with it. Use to have + past participle when the thing happened before now, and it seems that + a full sentence when you want a more formal, distant tone.
✅ Josh seems to have grown a whole foot overnight.
✅ It appears that nobody in the office knows his real age.
Practice: choose the natural form
Eight questions to test yourself. Choose the answer that sounds natural, then read the explanation.
1. Josh seems ___ when he sees his reflection.
Seem links Josh to a description, so use an adjective.
2. Overnight, Josh ___ a thirty-year-old man.
Before a noun phrase, use become, not get.
3. The stranger appears ___ very lost.
After appear, use to + verb.
4. Josh’s mother gets ___ when she cannot find her son.
Get links her to a feeling, so use an adjective.
5. New York ___ less frightening as the days go by.
Get + comparative adjective shows a gradual change.
6. Billy ___ to believe his friend’s strange story.
Seem + to + verb describes how things look from outside.
7. Josh seems ___ several inches overnight.
The growing happened before now, so use to have + past participle.
8. ___ that nobody at work knows his secret.
Only seem and appear can start with it + that.
Your turn
Choose one ending. Then listen to your sentence.
Every sentence here is correct and natural. The first frame uses become with adjectives and nouns, and the second uses get with adjectives. Pick the endings that are true for you.
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