～にみえる

About

～にみえる combines the に particle with the intransitive verb みえる to express a phrase similar to the English "X looks/seems like Y". Statements made using ～にみえる are subjective, and are based upon the speaker's impression.

～にみえる can be attached to nouns, verbs, and adjectives. For い-adjectives, にみえる can attach to their continuative form, or attach using the observational そう. When attaching to the continuative form, に is dropped.

E.g. おいしくみえる "to look tasty"

E.g. おいしそうにみえる "to seem tasty"

For verbs, にみえる can attach using either the 「(casual form)ようにみえる」 pattern or the 「(verb stem)そうにみえる」 pattern.

E.g. 溶とけているようにみえる "to appear to be melting"

E.g. 溶とけそうにみえる "to appear to be melting"

な-adjectives can directly attach to にみえる, or have そう in between.

Compared to other observational markers, such as ～そう, ～にみえる is more concerned with visual observation.

Summary

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  ～にみえる means "seems/looks like"

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  ～にみえる makes subjective observational statements