appear to (softening language)
"Can you edit the page please Simone?"
"Sorry, I don't appear to have editing access"
Why didn't Simone just say "I don't have editing access"?
Why did she say "I don't appear to have editing access"?
'Appear to' is a way of softening language so that it doesn't sound too DIRECT.
It's a way of saying "I'm sure it's not your mistake, I'm sure it's just a tech issue, I'm not accusing you of any wrongdoing, but I just wanted to let you know".
It works in the same way as "seem to".
People use 'seem to' when they KNOW there's a problem, but they don't want to make a fuss or cause anxiety to the other person.
"I'm really sorry but the link doesn't seem to work when I try it for some reason".
Real meaning = "The link definitely doesn't work. It doesn't work because it's the wrong link. And I know it's not just me, because I've checked it in different browsers and it still doesn't work".
This is a kind of 'hedging' language.
In the message below, lovely Woroud knows that I am not good with dates, and I often make mistakes.
So she's trying her best not to suggest that I've made a mistake, by saying "it seems that the dates are different to Fiona's".
Meaning: I'm pretty sure Fiona's dates are wrong.
