This may well be the beginnings of another such modal, but it has a lot of baggage. 

There are about 150 different verb patterns.  In my work I point out that there are similar verbs like chance(d) and happen almost like seem and appear, all of which may well have been earlier used impersonally.  Here are a few more paraphrases to think about: 

It seemed almost that William T. Stead, a professional individualist, planned his entrance. 

The noun clause (content clause) often interchanges with a small clause (for-to) infinitive phrase.  The perfect infinitive is used for a past.

It seemed for William T. Stead, a professional individualist, almost to have planned his entrance. 

The use of the personal subject is then the more colloquial phraseology.

William T. Stead, a professional individualist, seemed almost to have planned his entrance. 

Putting the title up front makes the imperfect participle of the copula interpretable as an adverbial adjunct.

Being a professional individualist, William T. Stead seemed almost to have planned his entrance. 

When this is the interpretation, it may be placed in its less ambiguous position. 

William T. Stead seemed almost to have planned his entrance, as he was a professional individualist.

Bruce

--- [log in to unmask] wrote:

From: Seth Katz <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: grammar question: type of verb?
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2016 07:42:57 -0600

Hey Kathleen (and everyone)--

Given the parallel in your paraphrase between "seemed to have planned" and "may have planned," would it be reasonable to parse "seem to" as a complex modal auxiliary, lie "have to" ('hafta'), "ought to" ('oughta') and "be going to" ('be gonna')?

Seth

Dr. Seth Katz
Associate Professor
Associate Chair
Department of English
Bradley University
Peoria, IL  61625
(309) 677-2479
 
Executive Director / Faculty Adviser
Bradley University Hillel
(309) 676-0862

On Tue, Feb 9, 2016 at 6:46 AM, John Chorazy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi Kathleen - but "almost seemed" or "seemed almost" would mean something very different than "almost planned" in this sentence. If I'm reading this correctly, it feels like the intention of the speaker is to suggest that Stead seemingly plans his entrances, not that he almost plans them.

-John


On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 3:22 PM, Kathleen Ward <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
I would think that this is sentence contains an infinitive clause,  "almost to have planned his entrance,"  functioning as the complement to the main verb, "seems." 

It's also an example how awkward a sentence can be when you are bound and determined not to split the infinitive "to have planned" with the adverb "almost."

Kathleen Ward

On Mon, Feb 8, 2016 at 6:51 AM, Scott Woods <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear List:

How would you analyze the verb in the following sentence?

    A professional individualist, William T. Stead seemed almost to have planned his entrance.
 
How would you analyze: "almost to have planned his entrance"?

Here is a similar sentence which seems easier to analyze.

     A professional individualist, William T. Stead may have planned his entrance.
  

Thanks for the help,

Scott Woods
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/




--
John Chorazy
English III Academic and Honors, AP Lit
Advisor, Panther Press
Pequannock Township High School
 
 

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/