“Seams” or “Seems”—Which to use?

“Seams” or “Seems”

Overview

seams / seems are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term. 👇

Definitions

seams: (noun) joint consisting of a line formed by joining two pieces. (noun) a stratum of ore or coal thick enough to be mined with profit. (verb) put together with a seam.

seems: (verb) appear to exist. (verb) appear to one's own mind or opinion.

Pronunciation

seams: s·IY·m·z

seems: s·IY·m·z

Trends

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Examples in Context

Examples of “seams”

Double seams
…measurements will determine the seam's quality.
…cheaply and the exploited coal seams were easy to work as…
…plates to "split" along their seams which intensified the flooding aboard…
…family coming apart at the seams turns out to be something…
Exploitation of the coal seams was the driving force behind…
The discovery of winnable coal seams is mentioned in a deposition…
…since the introduction of double seams is the welded side seam.
…to find even deeper coal seams.
…wooden hull, resulting in her seams opening up.

Examples of “seems”

…a collection of songs that seems sometimes a little too radio-…
…of deputies is 171, it seems that the extension will not…
This name seems to have been a late…
The only evidence against Alice seems to have been that James…
…the new policy, although it seems that the ordinary Palestinian Arab…
Nevertheless, Potts "seems to give a generally trustworthy,…
She seems to have genuinely believed in…
…in the A. auripila group seems to be a result of…
…the identity of the killer seems obvious.
The event that seems to have triggered Nowell's investigation,…

(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions drawn from WordNet.)

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