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 Presente 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 conjugation. For a general overview of Simple Tenses conjugation see our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see this Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Presente. 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 Presente to English

Note that the phrases in English 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 intended position on the timeline is an important skill for proper choice of tenses. So pay attention to the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, reading or writing. After some practice you’ll be able to select the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Presente 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 Spanish language, where each inflected verb form consists of two words.The verb parecer has an almost regular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. An exception is the first person singular, which has an irregular form. It means the other persons simply follow the general rules for this group (-er) without further spelling corrections or exceptions. The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we need to start by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s easy to do. Just remove two letters from the end of the infinitive form to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of our verb:

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

Use the stem parec- in each person as the basis for the conjugation, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Check out the image showing all the endings. Note both 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. The first person singular is irregular in this tense and needs to be remembered. It is parezco:

• yo parezco – I seem

An irregular ending is necessary here.

The first person singular (yo) uses the -zco ending. It influences other tenses as well. Imperativo Afirmativo & Negativo and Presente Subjuntivo are created based on this person, except for:

• Imperativo Afirmativo tú form, which is regular
• vosotros/vosotras which is always regular in that tense

All verbs ending in -cer/-cir belong to this group and get the -zco ending.So use -zco ending to get parezco:

• yo parezco – I seem

Add the regular ending -es for the second person singular to create pareces:

• tú pareces – you seem

Again add the regular ending -e for the third person singular to create parece:

• él parece – he seems
• ella parece – she seems
• usted parece – (formal) you seem

Similarly add the regular ending -emos for the first person plural to create parecemos:

• nosotros parecemos – we seem
• nosotras parecemos – (feminine) we seem

And again add the regular ending -éis for the second person plural to create parecéis:

• vosotros parecéis – (plural) you seem
• vosotras parecéis – (feminine, plural) you seem

And again add the regular ending -en for the third person plural to create parecen:

• ellos parecen – they seem
• ellas parecen – (feminine) they seem
• ustedes parecen – (formal, plural) you seem

Hurray! The conjugation is now complete. The final result looks as follows:

yo	parezco	I seem
tú	pareces	you seem
él/ella/usted	parece	he/she/it seems
nosotros/nosotras	parecemos	we seem
vosotros/vosotras	parecéis	you seem
ellos/ellas/ustedes	parecen	they seem

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 example phrases and next steps.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your knowledge check this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PretéritoImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito 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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