Look + adj He looks absurd/beautiful etc. I would like to know the correct use o

Hi teachers,

Look + adj.
He looks absurd/beautiful etc.

I would like to know the correct use of “seem” and “sound”. Can they both followed by an adj and a noun?

Many thanks.

“seem/sound” + adj. is fine:

“It seems/sounds absurd/beautiful/etc.”

“seem/sound” + article (+ other qualifiers) + noun is possible:

“It seems a nuisance” (= “It seems like a nuisance”)
“It sounds the easiest way” (= “It sounds like the easiest way”)

“seem” can also be directly followed by a noun in cases like “It seems birds evolved from dinosaurs” (= “It seems that…”), but answers like these may not be what you had in mind.

Thank you very much.

He seems beautiful.
He sounds an old man.
He seems a teacher.
He seems a student.
He seems a naughty boy.
He sounds a teacher.
Are these correct?

“He seems beautiful” is OK (with the proviso that “beautiful” is less often used with men).

The others are not impossible, but, to varying degrees, seem to be asking for the word “like” to be inserted. The pattern " seems/sounds a " is not guaranteed to always generate thoroughly natural and idiomatic sentences.

Thank you. Should I use “like” after “seem” and then “a noun”?

If “seems like” is the meaning you want, and you’re not sure if it would be natural to leave out “like”, then it’s safer to include it.

Note that “He seems like a…” is more often used to describe people’s qualities and characters than their professions; for example, “He seems like an idiot”, “He seems like a nice guy”. Something like “He seems like a teacher” would be less usual.

Thank you very much.
He seems like an idiot.
He seems to be an idiot. Is it the same?

What should I use to describe their professions?

They are very similar.

More context is needed. There are dozens of different expressions indicating varying degrees of doubt, supposition, etc. in various situations.