Paraître is a workhorse copular verb meaning to seem, to appear, or — when the subject is a book, an album, an article, or any published work — to come out / be published. It is one of the high-frequency seem-verbs alongside sembler, with which it heavily overlaps. Il paraît malade (he seems sick), son nouveau roman paraît en mai (his new novel comes out in May), il paraît qu'elle a déménagé (apparently she moved).
The conjugation is identical to connaître's: the famous circumflex sits on the i whenever the i is followed by a t in the same syllable (paraître, il paraît, je paraîtrai), and drops elsewhere (je parais, nous paraissons, que je paraisse). The 1990 spelling reform made the circumflex optional, but most published material still uses it. This page uses the traditional spelling.
This is the verb-reference entry. For the broader copular verbs, see verbs/fundamentals/copular-verbs.
A note on the circumflex
The traditional spelling of paraître keeps a circumflex on the i whenever it precedes a t in the same syllable. Forms with the circumflex:
- The infinitive: paraître
- The 3sg present: il paraît
- The futur: je paraîtrai (and entire paradigm)
- The conditional: je paraîtrais (and entire paradigm)
Forms without the circumflex:
- The 1sg / 2sg present: je parais, tu parais (no following t in the syllable)
- The plural present: nous paraissons, vous paraissez, ils paraissent
- The imparfait: je paraissais (and entire paradigm)
- The subjunctive: que je paraisse (and entire paradigm)
- The participle: paru
The 1990 spelling reform made the circumflex on i optional in this position. Both paraître / paraitre and il paraît / il parait are now accepted. Traditional publishing keeps the circumflex; modern primary-school textbooks often drop it. This page uses the traditional spelling.
The simple tenses
Présent de l'indicatif
The defining quirk: the third-person singular paraît keeps the circumflex (compare connaît). Singular forms drop the -iss- extension; plural forms include it.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | parais | /paʁɛ/ |
| tu | parais | /paʁɛ/ |
| il / elle / on | paraît | /paʁɛ/ |
| nous | paraissons | /paʁɛsɔ̃/ |
| vous | paraissez | /paʁɛse/ |
| ils / elles | paraissent | /paʁɛs/ |
The 1sg / 2sg / 3sg are perfectly homophonous /paʁɛ/. The plural forms add the -iss- /ɛs/ extension, similar to regular 2e-groupe verbs (finis / finissons) — but paraître is not a 2e-groupe verb because its singular forms (je parais /paʁɛ/) don't end in /i/ like finis /fini/.
Tu parais fatigué — tu as bien dormi ?
You look tired — did you sleep well?
Cette robe te va à merveille, tu parais dix ans plus jeune.
That dress suits you wonderfully — you look ten years younger.
Les enfants paraissent très contents de leur cadeau.
The children seem very happy with their present.
Imparfait
Built on the plural stem paraiss- (the nous paraissons stem) plus the regular imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | paraissais |
| tu | paraissais |
| il / elle / on | paraissait |
| nous | paraissions |
| vous | paraissiez |
| ils / elles | paraissaient |
Elle paraissait sereine, mais en réalité elle était au bord des larmes.
She seemed serene, but in reality she was on the verge of tears.
Le projet paraissait simple au début — finalement, ça a duré six mois.
The project seemed simple at first — in the end, it took six months.
Passé simple (literary)
Stem par- with -us- class endings, like connaître.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | parus |
| tu | parus |
| il / elle / on | parut |
| nous | parûmes |
| vous | parûtes |
| ils / elles | parurent |
Soudain, une silhouette parut dans l'embrasure de la porte.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the doorway. (literary)
The literary passé simple of paraître is most often used in this "appearance/emergence" sense — a character shows up in a narrative.
Futur simple
The futur stem keeps the circumflex (paraîtr-) in traditional spelling. The 1990 reform makes it optional (paraitr-).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | paraîtrai |
| tu | paraîtras |
| il / elle / on | paraîtra |
| nous | paraîtrons |
| vous | paraîtrez |
| ils / elles | paraîtront |
Son nouveau livre paraîtra en septembre chez Gallimard.
His new book will come out in September with Gallimard.
Avec ce maquillage, tu paraîtras vingt ans de moins.
With that makeup, you'll look twenty years younger.
Conditionnel présent
Same paraîtr- stem as the futur, with imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | paraîtrais |
| tu | paraîtrais |
| il / elle / on | paraîtrait |
| nous | paraîtrions |
| vous | paraîtriez |
| ils / elles | paraîtraient |
The conditional has a special evidential use: il paraîtrait que + indicative = it would seem that / apparently — slightly more cautious or hedging than il paraît que.
Il paraîtrait qu'ils vont vendre la maison.
It would seem they're going to sell the house. (hedged report)
Subjonctif présent
Built on the regular plural stem paraiss- — no circumflex, no irregularity. Standard -e/-es/-e/-ions/-iez/-ent endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | paraisse |
| (que) tu | paraisses |
| (qu')il / elle / on | paraisse |
| (que) nous | paraissions |
| (que) vous | paraissiez |
| (qu')ils / elles | paraissent |
Bien que ça paraisse simple, c'est en fait très difficile.
Although it seems simple, it's actually very difficult.
Je ne crois pas qu'il paraisse vraiment quarante ans.
I don't think he really looks forty.
Impératif
Existing but rare in everyday use. Listed for completeness.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | parais |
| (nous) | paraissons |
| (vous) | paraissez |
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: paru (variable: paru, parue, parus, parues)
- Participe présent: paraissant
- Gérondif: en paraissant
The participle paru agrees normally — masculine paru, feminine parue, plural parus/parues. Agreement matters in the être-auxiliary use (see below).
Sa biographie, parue l'an dernier, est devenue un best-seller.
His biography, published last year, became a bestseller.
The phrase paru en 2025 / parue en 2025 is the standard way to indicate publication date in French — used in book reviews, library catalogs, and citations.
The compound tenses
Paraître takes avoir in its dominant uses (seeming, appearing as a copula). It can take être in the publishing sense, when emphasizing the resultant state — but modern usage strongly prefers avoir even there. We cover both.
Passé composé with avoir
avoir (présent) + paru
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| j' | ai paru |
| tu | as paru |
| il / elle / on | a paru |
| nous | avons paru |
| vous | avez paru |
| ils / elles | ont paru |
Le livre a paru en mars chez Seuil.
The book came out in March with Seuil.
Elle a paru surprise quand on lui a annoncé la nouvelle.
She seemed surprised when we told her the news.
Passé composé with être (older usage, surviving in some publishing contexts)
The construction est paru / est parue survives mostly in formal written French — book reviews, library records, scholarly references. The avoir construction (a paru / ont paru) is now dominant. With être, the participle agrees with the subject: son livre est paru, sa thèse est parue, les actes sont parus.
Cette monographie est parue il y a trente ans, mais reste une référence.
This monograph came out thirty years ago, but remains a reference. (formal written)
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait) + paru
L'article avait paru la veille, mais personne n'en avait parlé.
The article had come out the day before, but nobody had talked about it.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel) + paru
The form il aurait paru que + indicative = it would have appeared that — a more cautious past evidential than il a paru que.
Il aurait paru qu'ils s'étaient réconciliés, mais c'était une rumeur.
It would have appeared that they'd reconciled, but it was a rumor.
The core uses
1. paraître + adjective — to look / seem / appear (copular)
The most frequent use. Paraître + adjective = to seem + adjective. The adjective agrees with the subject (it's a copular construction).
Marie paraît préoccupée ces derniers temps.
Marie seems worried lately.
Ils paraissaient tellement heureux à leur mariage.
They seemed so happy at their wedding.
Cette solution paraît bonne sur le papier.
This solution seems good on paper.
In this use, paraître and sembler are near-perfect synonyms — Marie paraît / semble préoccupée mean essentially the same thing.
2. paraître + age / number — to look (a certain age)
Specific to age and similar measurable qualities. Paraître son âge = to look one's age.
Il paraît à peine trente ans, mais il en a quarante-cinq.
He looks barely thirty, but he's forty-five.
Vous ne paraissez pas votre âge.
You don't look your age.
Cette femme paraît plus jeune que sa fille !
This woman looks younger than her daughter!
3. paraître — to appear / be published (of a book, article, record)
When the subject is a publication — book, article, album, magazine, journal — paraître means to come out / to be published.
Son nouveau roman paraît la semaine prochaine.
His new novel comes out next week.
L'étude est parue dans Nature le mois dernier.
The study was published in Nature last month.
Tous ses albums ont paru chez Universal.
All her albums have come out with Universal.
This is the only sense where être is sometimes used as the auxiliary; avoir is now standard in all registers.
4. il paraît que — apparently / it seems that
The impersonal il paraît que + indicative is the standard French way to introduce a piece of hearsay or rumor. It is roughly equivalent to English apparently or I hear that. Note the indicative in the embedded clause — paraît que does not trigger the subjunctive (in contrast to il faut que, je veux que, etc.).
Il paraît qu'ils ont divorcé.
Apparently they got divorced.
Il paraît que cette boulangerie est la meilleure du quartier.
I hear this bakery is the best in the neighborhood.
Il paraît qu'il va pleuvoir tout le week-end.
It seems it's going to rain all weekend.
The subjunctive does appear after the negative il ne paraît pas que — because negation introduces doubt, the standard subjunctive trigger.
Il ne paraît pas que ce soit la bonne solution.
It doesn't seem this is the right solution.
5. paraître — to be visible / show
Used absolutely (without an adjective complement), paraître can mean "to be visible / show / be noticeable." This is rarer in modern French, more common in older or literary usage.
Sa fatigue paraissait dans ses yeux.
His fatigue showed in his eyes.
Ne le dis à personne — ça ne doit pas paraître.
Don't tell anyone — it mustn't show.
paraître versus sembler
The two seem-verbs overlap heavily but with subtle differences:
| paraître | sembler | |
|---|---|---|
| il paraît malade | il semble malade |
| il -- que + indicative | il paraît que (apparently) | il semble que (it seems) |
| il ne -- pas que + subjunctive | il ne paraît pas que | il ne semble pas que |
| (rare, formal) | il semble être malade (common) |
| Publishing sense | le livre paraît en mai | (no — sembler doesn't have this) |
| Register | slightly more formal | fully neutral |
The most reliable difference: paraître covers the publishing sense, sembler does not. Le livre paraît en mai is fine; *le livre semble en mai is ungrammatical. For copular use (seeming + adjective), the two are interchangeable — choose by personal feel or rhythm.
Le rapport paraîtra en juin.
The report will come out in June. (only paraître works here)
Cette explication semble plus convaincante que la précédente.
This explanation seems more convincing than the previous one. (sembler also works perfectly)
Comparison with English
Three friction points:
English uses seem across all senses; French splits them. Seem in English covers paraître, sembler, avoir l'air, and on dirait. Choose based on register and construction. Avoir l'air is the most colloquial; on dirait is informal but useful for "you'd think / it looks like"; paraître and sembler are neutral; paraître alone covers the publishing sense.
The publishing sense has no obvious English match. English uses come out, be published, or appear (the last is closest to paraître). French uses one verb for everything related to a work entering the public domain: paraître.
The il paraît que construction is a key evidential. English speakers often translate it as apparently — but apparently in English is an adverb, while il paraît que in French is a full clause. The structures don't map one-to-one. When you want to introduce hearsay in French, reach for il paraît que
- indicative; it's the most natural device.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Mixing circumflex and non-circumflex spellings within the same text.
❌ Il parait que paraître est un verbe difficile.
Inconsistent — pick one spelling system and stick with it. Either traditional throughout (paraît / paraître) or post-1990 throughout (parait / paraitre). Mixing within a single document looks careless.
✅ Il paraît que paraître est un verbe difficile.
Apparently paraître is a difficult verb. (traditional spelling, used consistently)
Mistake 2: Using subjunctive after affirmative il paraît que.
❌ Il paraît qu'il soit malade.
Wrong — affirmative *il paraît que* takes the indicative: *qu'il est malade*. Negation flips it: *il ne paraît pas qu'il soit malade*.
✅ Il paraît qu'il est malade.
Apparently he's sick.
Mistake 3: Wrong auxiliary in everyday speech.
❌ Le livre est paru chez Gallimard.
Acceptable in formal writing but increasingly perceived as stiff. *A paru* is the modern default in all registers.
✅ Le livre a paru chez Gallimard.
The book came out with Gallimard.
Mistake 4: Failing to agree the adjective with the subject in copular use.
❌ Marie paraît préoccupé.
Wrong — *paraître* is copular; the adjective agrees with the subject. Marie is feminine, so: *préoccupée*.
✅ Marie paraît préoccupée.
Marie seems worried.
Mistake 5: Confusing paraître with apparaître in the modern present.
❌ Une silhouette paraît dans la brume.
Awkward in the modern present — for visible appearance/emergence in everyday French, use *apparaître*: *une silhouette apparaît*. The absolute use of *paraître* survives mainly in literary narration in the passé simple (*une silhouette parut...*).
✅ Une silhouette apparaît dans la brume.
A figure appears in the mist.
Key takeaways
Paraître conjugates exactly like connaître: circumflex on the i before t (paraître, il paraît, je paraîtrai), no circumflex elsewhere. The 1990 reform makes the circumflex optional, but most published material still uses it.
Five core uses: copular paraître + adjective (to seem), age paraître + number (to look an age), publishing paraître (to come out), evidential il paraît que + indicative (apparently), and the negative il ne paraît pas que + subjunctive. The publishing sense is unique to paraître among the seem-verbs.
The auxiliary is avoir in modern usage across all senses — even publishing (le livre a paru). The être form (est paru) survives in formal written French but is no longer obligatory.
For English speakers, the key takeaways are: (1) paraître + adjective is interchangeable with sembler + adjective; choose freely. (2) Il paraît que + indicative is the standard hearsay marker — don't try to translate apparently as an adverb; restructure with il paraît que. (3) The publishing sense has no exact English single-verb match; use come out or be published depending on register.
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- Apparaître: Full Verb ReferenceB1 — Apparaître means to appear — to become visible, to come into view, to materialize. It conjugates identically to paraître, with the same circumflex pattern. Unlike paraître, the auxiliary is more often être (apparu, apparue) — but modern usage admits both. This page covers every paradigm, the auxiliary alternation, and the faire apparaître causative.
- Disparaître: Full Verb ReferenceB1 — Disparaître is to disappear, to vanish, to die out — and like its parent paraître, it has lived through a quiet auxiliary debate. Older usage took être (il est disparu), modern French has standardized on avoir (il a disparu). The verb is a -aître family member with the circumflex on the i before t (il disparaît, je disparaîtrai). This page is the full reference: every paradigm, the auxiliary history, the faire disparaître causative, the disparaître de + place idiom, and the death/extinction senses.
- Connaître: Full Verb ReferenceA1 — Connaître is the verb for being acquainted with people, places, and works of art — the second French verb for to know, alongside savoir. This page is the full reference: every paradigm (with the famous circumflex on the third-person singular), the savoir/connaître contrast, the aspectual shift to met in the passé composé, and the family of derivatives in -aître.
- Copular Verbs: être, devenir, sembler, paraître, resterA2 — The verbs that link a subject to a predicate noun or adjective in French — and the agreement, register, and subjunctive choices that come with them.
- Impersonal Verbs: OverviewA2 — French uses a dummy 'il' as the subject of a class of verbs whose 'subject' refers to nothing in particular: il pleut (it's raining), il faut (it is necessary), il y a (there is/are), il est huit heures (it's eight o'clock), il s'agit de... (it's about...). The 'il' is purely grammatical — it doesn't refer to a person or thing. This page maps the impersonal-verb system: weather, existence, necessity, time, and the productive pattern of impersonalizing ordinary verbs (il manque trois étudiants — three students are missing).