Did you know that the Spanish verbo “parecer” has many different uses and equivalents? Let’s see the many things we can express with just one verb:
1. We use ‘parecer’ to discuss the appearance of a person or object:
- Julio parece un doctor con ese delantal. Julio looks like a doctor with that smok.
- Este libro parece muy interesante. This book looks very interesting.
2. We also use the verb ‘parecer’ to express an opinion. In this sense, parecer acts as a synonym of ‘pensar que’, and we use it in the conjugation of the 3rd person singular (él, ella, usted) together with the indirect object pronouns (me, te, le…):
- Me parece que esta escuela es la mejor. I think this school is the best one.
- A ellos les parece que el país tiene una crisis muy seria. They think the country is going through a severe crisis.
3. With this verb, we can also describe the impressions caused by someone’s actions or attitudes. In this sense, the English equivalent is ‘to seem’:
- Susana parecía tener prisa. She seemed to be in a hurry.
- Parece que ellos todavía están enojados por lo que pasó. It seems like they’re still angry about what happened.
4. We use ‘parecer’ frequently to make a suggestion or to propose an invitation using the structure ¿Qué te/le/os/les + parecer?:
- ¿Qué te parece si vamos al teatro? Should we go to the theatre?
- ¿Qué les parece si vamos a cenar al nuevo restaurante peruano? How about if we go to the new Peruvian restaurant?
5. Finally, we can use ‘parecer’ to express opinions in an impersonal manner; in this sense, we only use it in the conjugation of the 3rd person singular (él, ella, usted), ‘parece que’:
- Parece que va a llover esta noche. It looks like it’s going to rain tonight.
- Parece que no hay más entradas disponibles para la obra. It looks like there are no more tickets available for the play.