Re: Negation raising (was: introduction)

Christian Thalmann wrote:
> "I can't seem to do it" meaning "It seems that I can't do it."
>
> So?  If it's valid, it sure is one heck of a grammatical stunt.
Perfectly legal.  What's so odd about it?  "Seem" can be used that way
quite often.  "I seem to have fallen" = "It seems that I have fallen" or
"I don't seem to be hurt" = "It doesn't seem that I'm hurt".  Hmm ...
okay, on further contemplation, it is odd, being "can't seem" instead of
"don't seem to be able".  That is a bit unusual, but then again, "can"
has no infinitive, unless you count the suppletive "to be able".

Furthermore, I'd never say "I can seem to do it" (unless I intended to
mean "I can make it look like I can do it"), but rather "I seem to be
able to do it" or "It seems I can do it"

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