seem
siːm
Reading the inside from the outside only
The picture The inside cannot be opened, so the inside is guessed from the surface that shows. SEEM reads the inside off the surface; BE has checked the inside and states it flat.
Where the picture shows up in seem
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judging by the look
You seem tired today.
juː siːm ˈtaɪərd təˈdeɪ
You look tired today.
Heavy eyelids and a slow walk are all there is to read someone's day from
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reading the sky
It seems like rain tonight.
ɪt siːmz laɪk reɪn təˈnaɪt
It looks like rain tonight.
Low black cloud is studied overhead and an umbrella is picked up on the way out
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reading a relationship
She seems to know him well.
ʃiː siːmz tə noʊ hɪm wel
She looks like she knows him well.
From across the room, two people are seen trading whole sentences in glances
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reading a state
The door seemed locked from inside.
ðə dɔːr siːmd lɑːkt frəm ɪnˈsaɪd
The door looked locked from inside.
The handle is shaken twice and all that comes back is a door that will not budge
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sensing trouble
There seems to be a problem here.
ðer siːmz tə biː ə ˈprɑːbləm hɪr
Something looks wrong here.
A sheet whose figures do not add up, and faces that have stopped talking
All of it in one picture
Seem is one picture: the inside guessed from the surface alone. Heavy eyelids are all you have, so someone seems tired; low black cloud is all you have, so it seems like rain. Two people trading glances is all you see, so she seems to know him, and a handle that will not budge is all you feel, so the door seems locked. Numbers that do not add up and faces that stop talking are all you have, so there seems to be a problem.