parecer means: to seem, to look like
Click to see all conjugation charts of parecer in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we are going to learn how to inflect the verb parecer in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the parecer verb conjugation. For a general overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation see the Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see this Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Pretérito. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you can see additional information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Pretérito to English

Note that the English phrases provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

Note the timeline

The ability to properly locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for the right choice of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while speaking, listening, writing and reading. After a bit practice you will be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Pretérito belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of its inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each conjugated verb form consists of two words.The verb parecer has an almost regular conjugation in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. An exception is the first person singular, which has an irregular form. It means the other persons just follow the general rules for this group (-er) without further exceptions, spelling corrections and the like. The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we have to start by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s very easy to do. Just remove two letters from the end of the infinitive to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So for parecer:

• the stem is: parec-
• and the ending is: -er

Use the stem parec- in each person as the basis for conjugations, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. See the image on the side showing all the six endings. Note the shapes and colors of the letters. They are arranged to help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -í for the first person singular to create parecí:

• yo parecí – I seemed

Like previously add the regular ending -iste for the second person singular to create pareciste:

• tú pareciste – you seemed

Like in the previous case add the regular ending -ió for the third person singular to create pareció:

• él pareció – he seemed
• ella pareció – she seemed
• usted pareció – (formal) you seemed

Similarly add the regular ending -imos for the first person plural to create parecimos:

• nosotros parecimos – we seemed
• nosotras parecimos – (feminine) we seemed

And one more time add the regular ending -isteis for the second person plural to create parecisteis:

• vosotros parecisteis – (plural) you seemed
• vosotras parecisteis – (feminine, plural) you seemed

Once more add the regular ending -ieron for the third person plural to create parecieron:

• ellos parecieron – they seemed
• ellas parecieron – (feminine) they seemed
• ustedes parecieron – (formal, plural) you seemed

Hurray! The conjugation is now finished. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	parecí	I seemed
tú	pareciste	you seemed
él/ella/usted	pareció	he/she/it seemed
nosotros/nosotras	parecimos	we seemed
vosotros/vosotras	parecisteis	you seemed
ellos/ellas/ustedes	parecieron	they seemed

Click to see all conjugation charts of parecer in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for some links.

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test yourself check this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PresenteImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to parecer visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for parecer visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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