Breakdown of Não parece que o esboço seja uma falsificação.
ser
to be
não
not / no
um
a / an / some (all forms)
o
him/it (m)
parecer
to seem
que
that (conjunction)
a falsificação
the forgery
o esboço
the sketch
Questions & Answers about Não parece que o esboço seja uma falsificação.
Why do we use the subjunctive seja here instead of the indicative é?
Because the sentence starts with Não parece que (It does not seem that). In Portuguese, making parecer negative introduces doubt or uncertainty, which requires the subjunctive mood in the following clause. If the sentence were affirmative (Parece que...), you would use the indicative é.
Could I say Não me parece que... instead of just Não parece que...?
Yes, you can. Adding the indirect object pronoun me makes it more personal, meaning 'It doesn't seem to me that...'. Both forms require the subjunctive seja afterwards, but Não parece que sounds a bit more objective or general.
Why do we use the verb ser (in the form seja) instead of estar (esteja) to say the sketch 'is' a forgery?
We use ser because being a forgery is an inherent, permanent characteristic of the sketch, not a temporary condition. When defining or classifying what something fundamentally is, you use ser.
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