Is "They cannot seem to understand" proper English?

[thedaveformula]

I've typed the line "They cannot seem to understand the nature of the problem", it rolled off the tongue, but I'm analysing it and I don't see how it can make any sense. Shouldn't it be "It seems they cannot understand ..."

[Quizmonster]

SH, just a last quick message for you here...the combined "Oxford Dictionaries" website you provided a link to does, indeed, refer to 'cannot seem'; however, The Oxford English Dictionary ITSELF makes it clear that it is simply a colloquial usage. (OED quote: "Also (colloq.), in negative contexts (preceded by can): to seem unable.") So, it is no more "proper" English than any other such usage. And yes, Merriam Webster could be expected to list it, given that it is an American idiom.
I have no intention whatsoever of entering a discussion of what "proper English" IS!
Most contributors here, including Count-A-Strong, Calibax, JNO, Scotman, Mike1111, Whiskeryron, MarkRoe Ludwig (initially!) as well as me are, I imagine, Brits and we seem virtually all to feel that it is not proper BRITISH English.
In conclusion, I'd be perfectly happy if you SAID (to an American), "I cannot seem to understand..." but not so ecstatic if you WROTE it (to a Brit.)

Cheers, ma'am.

[jno]

ludwig, I suppose actors have an ability to seem

[ludwig]

..and seemstresses of course.

Actually, that's kind of what I was getting at earlier, when I used the word 'appear'.
'An actor has the ability to appear drunk' - that sounds fine. 'An actor has the ability to seem drunk' - doesn't quite work as well I don't think.

[jno]

not sure - I don't think there's much difference between 'seem' and 'appear' in this case. Broadly, I think a Mongolian actor could 'seem to understand proper English' even if he didn't.... not that this is what the OP was really talking about, though, I must admit.

[ludwig]

// In conclusion, I'd be perfectly happy if you SAID (to an American), "I cannot seem to understand..." but not so ecstatic if you WROTE it (to a Brit.) //

Sorry Quizm, but anyone who said 'I cannot seem to understand' really would be talking nonsense. :-)

[swedeheart]

Message received, QM, and I assure you I too perceive this wording as illogical to the point that I myself have reflected on it in the past. But then again language is full of quirks and singularities and I have just accepted this one to mean "it appears that (something, someone) is incapable of (doing something)". Me being a Swede with more or less equal exposure to British English and American English, I often but not always have a sense of which is which. In this case I didn't. I do use it myself - I'll try to remember to bite my tongue when you are around. After all, I don't want to hear you say Ae "cannot seem" an' yer oot...! ;-)

[Quizmonster]

Ach! Fits a 'canna seem' atween frien's? (The last word's pronounced freenz, SH. You'll be fluent in Doric one day, if we go on like this.)

[thedaveformula]

@Quizmonster 'could of' is lazy grammar, it's not a reasonable comparison to 'can't seem' which does mean something. I'd say whilst it isn't literally correct it's commonly understood. If someone said to me 'could of' I'd immediately pick up that they should be saying 'could have', but if they said to me 'can't seem to find my keys' I'd go with it, I wouldn't have a problem with that.

[thedaveformula]

And to give my conclusion to the matter, I consider 'they cannot seem to find the exit' to be perfectly acceptable in common usage. A phrase does not need to be literally correct to be correct, it can have a semantic meaning that underlies it.

Any British person would understand if someone said "I can't seem to find my keys", and they wouldn't bat an eyelid at it. The addition 'seem' adds a certain vurnerability to it, it softens the assertion.