As you become more familiar with the structure of Spanish language, you’ll realize how useful the verb PARECER is to communicate in Spanish. Remember that, as other verbs ending in “-ecer” it is irregular in the present tense (see verb PARECER conjugation).
Let’s see its five more common uses.
How to use verb PARECER
1. For appearances
When someone or something ‘looks’ a certain way, then you can use parecer in Spanish to express your observation.
Carmen parece triste (Carmen looks sad.)
Alejandro parece más joven de lo que es. (Alejandro looks younger than he is.)
2. To point out similarities
If you want to highlight the similarities between two people then you need to use parecer as a reflexive or reciprocal.
Se parecen como dos gotas de agua. (They are like two peas in a pod.)
Me parezco mucho a mi madre. (I’m a lot like my mother.)
Tu novio se parece a un amigo mío. (Your boyfriend looks like a friend of mine.)
3. To ask for or give opinions
The next use of this verb is for stating your opinion about something, or asking others what they think. For this use of parecer, you will form the sentence like you would with the Spanish verb gustar (the third person of the verb with an indirect object pronoun):
¿Qué te parece el libro? (What do you think about the book?)
Me parece que es muy entretenido (I think it is very entertaining.)
4. To seem
If you are deceived by the appearance of something, then just like the English verb ‘to seem’, parecer can be used in the same way in Spanish.
El trabajo parecía fácil, pero era complicado. (The work seemed easy, but it was complicated.)
¡Parecía una buena idea en ese momento! (It seemed like a good idea at the time!)
5. Parecer bien, mal, regular, fatal….
It is also be used for stating opinions in a positive or negative way.
¿Te parece bien si nos tomamos algo? (Is it all right with you if we have anything?)
- We can also give opinions by using Me parece + adjective + que + subjunctive:
Me parece fatal que Marisa no haya dicho nada. (I think it’s awful that Marisa hasn´t said anything at all.)
- Or Me parece + adjective + infinitive, for more impersonal point of view.
Me parece interesante estudiar español. (I think studying Spanish is interesting.)