Parecer (To Seem) — Full Conjugation

Parecer is one of Portuguese's most useful verbs: it means to seem, to look (like), or to appear. You will use it every day to describe impressions (parece cansado — he looks tired), to report hearsay or soft claims (parece que vai chover — it looks like it's going to rain), and, with a reflexive pronoun, to say that one thing resembles another (parece-se com o pai — he looks like his father).

Mechanically, parecer is a regular second-conjugation (-er) verb — but it has a spelling twist that every learner stumbles on at first. Because its stem ends in c, the c must change to ç whenever it is followed by a or o. This is not an irregularity: it is a regular spelling adjustment used across Portuguese to preserve the soft /s/ sound. So the first-person present is pareço (not pareco) and the entire present subjunctive is pareça, pareças, pareça, pareçamos, pareçam.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Use this tense for current impressions and general judgments. Pareces feliz = you seem happy.

The cedilla appears only in pareço because only here does the ending start with o. All other forms keep c because the ending starts with e.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Use this tense for past impressions and background descriptions. Parecia doente = he seemed sick / he looked sick.

The imperfect is by far the most common past tense for parecer, because impressions are usually durative rather than punctual.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Use this tense for a moment of realization — a flash of impression that happened and is now over. Pareceu-me estranho = it struck me as strange.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

The simple pluperfect is a synthetic form used mainly in literary and formal writing. In speech, Portuguese uses the compound pluperfect.

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

An action that has been happening repeatedly up to now. Tem parecido cansado ultimamente = he has been looking tired lately.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Here the cedilla appears throughout, because every ending begins with a. This is where learners forget the spelling rule most often.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

No cedilla here because all endings begin with consonants or e/i.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

Parecer is rarely used as an imperative — you don't usually order someone to seem a certain way. The forms exist, though, and you may find them in phrases like não pareças ridículo (don't look ridiculous).

Affirmative:

Negative:

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Four patterns of use

Parecer is not just one verb — it is four constructions with distinct shades of meaning. Learn them separately.

1. parecer + adjective (seem, look)

The subject appears a certain way. The adjective agrees with the subject in gender and number.

2. parecer que + indicative (it seems that...)

Used to report an impression, often when the speaker is moderately confident. Takes the indicative, because the speaker is asserting the impression, not doubting it.

With the negative, não parece que often takes the subjunctive, because the speaker is now expressing doubt: Não parece que venha hoje (it doesn't seem like he'll come today).

3. parecer-se com (resemble, look like)

This is where many learners trip. To say that person or thing A resembles person or thing B, Portuguese requires the reflexive pronoun plus the preposition com. Without the reflexive, the verb means something else.

Contrast: parece com alone is non-standard in European Portuguese. Use parecer-se com for resemblance, or rephrase with é parecido/a com (more colloquial).

4. ao que parece (apparently)

A fixed evidential expression meaning apparently or by the looks of it. It introduces information that the speaker is reporting secondhand or inferring indirectly — a hedge on the claim that follows.

Parecer que vs acho que

Both translate as I think that..., but the speaker's stance differs:

• acho que = I think/reckon — your personal opinion, moderately casual
• parece-me que = it seems to me that — an impression, slightly more tentative
• parece que = it seems that — depersonalized, often based on evidence

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Parecer is a regular -er verb with a c → ç spelling change before a or o. This gives you pareço in the present and the entire present subjunctive in pareça / pareças / pareça / pareçamos / pareçam.
• With an adjective, parecer = to seem / to look: pareces cansado.
• With que + indicative, parecer reports an impression: parece que vai chover.
• With negation (não parece que), the subjunctive is expected: não parece que venha.
• To say A resembles B, you need the reflexive: A parece-se com B — not A parece com B.
• Ao que parece is a useful evidential meaning apparently or by the looks of it.
• Keep parece-me que (my impression) distinct from acho que (my opinion) — they feel different in register even though both translate I think.