Nithila  +  831232 Thu, 23 Jul 09 06:32 PM Two states -- Alabama and Mississippi -- said they would not secede alone. But they said they would join others that made this decision. Two more states -- Louisiana and Georgia -- said they would not secede unless the north acted against them. And one state -- North Carolina -- said it had not yet decided what to do. No southern governor, except William Gist of South Carolina, seemed willing to lead the South out of the Union. seemed +  willing Verb    +  ing. Here colored part sentence's  grammatical pattern is Verb + ing. is not it? if it is not then what would the grammatical pattern? Nithila Joined on Thu, Apr 19 2007 Full Member 121 if my question is grammatically wrong, please inform me, or correct it. It will help me a lot Sentences, Countries, United States

	Mr Wordy  +  831244 Thu, 23 Jul 09 06:50 PM "seemed" is the past tense of the verb "to seem".   "willing" is an adjective here. (In other contexts it can be the present participle of the verb "to will".) Mr Wordy Joined on Tue, May 27 2008 Senior Member 2,359 Native British English speaker Tenses, Past Tenses, Adjectives, Sentences

	CalifJim  +  831472 Fri, 24 Jul 09 02:17 AM I would add that the present participle of the verb to will is exceedingly rare, so that willing is almost exclusively an adjective. ?For days I have been willing it to be true. to will might even be considered a non-progressive verb. seemed willing is like seemed large, seemed happy, seemed ready, etc. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,463 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Adjectives, Sentences

	Mr Wordy  +  831499 Fri, 24 Jul 09 02:42 AM CalifJim “the present participle of the verb to will is exceedingly rare”     The usage that came to my mind was "I'm willing them on" / "She's willing him on" etc. This is a reasonably common form of words in my part of the world. Mr Wordy Sentences, Usages

	lulu222  +  831931 Fri, 24 Jul 09 02:41 PM In my opinion, "seem" here is a link verb. So "seemed" is the past tense of "seem",it's like "was" to "is" or "am". After the link verb,there can be verb+ing  form following.And you can also consider verb+ing as a adjective.  The sentense can be changed to: No southern governor, except William Gist of South Carolina, was willing to lead the South out of the Union. Although it loses the meaning of "seem", it's much easier to understand the grammer. lulu222 Joined on Wed, Nov 19 2008 New Member 02 Tenses, Past Tenses, Adjectives, Sentences, Countries, United States

	CalifJim  +  831979 Fri, 24 Jul 09 06:21 PM Mr Wordy “"I'm willing them on"” Are we grammatically deprived in California?    I don't believe I've ever heard this one! CJ CalifJim Sentences, Countries, United States

	Mr Wordy  +  832011 Fri, 24 Jul 09 07:30 PM CalifJim “I don't believe I've ever heard this one!”   Well, I think there may be some differences here -- I was a bit puzzled actually by your question mark against For days I have been willing it to be true. To me, this sentence is OK. Kind of literary, and perhaps not something I'd say in everyday conversation, but sound nonetheless. Mr Wordy Punctuation, Question Marks, Sentences, Speaking, Chat, Friendships, Conversational