parecer
to seem
To appear a certain way
Encoding Strategies:
linguistic
appear
to come into view
+
-ecer
verb suffix
Parecer means to seem and shares its root with the English word appear0 — when something seems a certain way, it's appearing0 that way to you.
parecer
to seem, to look
When someone or something appears a certain way, they seem or look that way.
- Pareces cansado. ¿Dormiste bien? = You seem tired. Did you sleep well?
- El proyecto parece difícil, pero no lo es. = The project looks difficult, but it isn't.
to look like (resemblance)
When something appears similar to something else, it looks like it.
- Mi gato parece un tigre pequeño. = My cat looks like a small tiger.
parece que
it seems like, it looks like
Used impersonally when something appears to be the case — the situation itself is appearing a certain way.
- Parece que va a llover. = It looks like it's going to rain.
- Parece que llegaron tarde. = It seems like they arrived late.
parecerle
to think, to feel, to seem
When something appears a certain way to someone, they think or feel that way. The indirect object pronoun marks whose perspective it's appearing from.
- Me parece que tiene razón. = I think he's right.
- ¿Qué te parece la idea? = What do you think of the idea?
parecerse a
to look like, to be like
The reflexive turns the appearing back on the subject — you are the one appearing similar to someone else, i.e. you look like them.
- Te pareces mucho a tu madre. = You look a lot like your mother.
- Este sabor se parece al caramelo. = This flavor is like caramel.
el parecer
opinion, view
Literally "the appearing," referring to how things appear to you, which is your opinion.
- En mi parecer, la película fue excelente. = In my opinion, the film was excellent.
- Tu parecer es distinto al mío. = Your view is different from mine.
al parecer
apparently, it seems
Literally "at the appearing" — used to indicate that something is the case based on how things appear.
- Al parecer, no van a venir. = Apparently, they're not coming.