ELONIO
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Il semble que la réalité soit différente de l'illusion.

Il semble que la réalité soit différente de l'illusion.
It seems that the reality is different from the illusion.
From Lesson 354:Certainty and doubt (il semble que / il me semble que)·French

Questions & Answers about Il semble que la réalité soit différente de l'illusion.

Why do we use the subjunctive soit here instead of the indicative est?
Because the impersonal expression il semble que ("it seems that") implies a level of doubt or uncertainty. It describes an appearance rather than a certain fact, which triggers the subjunctive.
If I wanted to say "It seems to me that...", would I still use soit?
No, you would switch to the indicative: Il me semble que la réalité est différente. Adding an indirect object pronoun (me, te, lui, etc.) changes the phrase from a doubtful observation into a clear statement of personal belief, which requires the indicative.
What if I make that personal opinion negative and say "It doesn't seem to me that..."?
If you make it negative by saying il ne me semble pas que, you are re-introducing doubt. Because you are no longer stating a firm belief, you must switch back to the subjunctive: Il ne me semble pas que la réalité soit différente.
Why does French use de in différente de instead of a comparison word like que?
In English, people sometimes say "different than", which might tempt you to use que. However, in French, the adjective différent is always constructed with the preposition de (literally "different from").

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