parecer — Portuguese conjugation

to seem

Frequency#132IrregularReflexiveparecer-se — to seem oneself

Indicative

Present (Presente) Irregular

The presente covers routines, states, and immediate future with adverbs like hoje or amanhã. One present form covers both English simple and progressive readings in most situations.

Ela estuda português todas as noites.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
eupareçoI seem
tuparecesyou seem
vocêpareceyou seem
ele/elaparecehe/she/it seems
nósparecemoswe seem
vóspareceisyou (pl.) seem
vocêsparecemyou (pl.) seem
eles/elasparecemthey seem

Preterite (Pretérito perfeito simples) Regular

The pretérito perfeito simples is a sharp, completed past. In European Portuguese it is the standard story-telling past; Brazilian usage often prefers the compound form in speech while keeping the simple for narrative and writing.

Ontem escreveu a carta inteira de uma vez.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
eupareciI seemed
tuparecesteyou seemed
vocêpareceuyou seemed
ele/elapareceuhe/she/it seemed
nósparecemoswe seemed
vósparecestesyou (pl.) seemed
vocêspareceramyou (pl.) seemed
eles/elaspareceramthey seemed

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfeito) Regular

The imperfeito describes past background, repeated actions, and how things used to be. Contrast it with the simple preterite for the “main event” line of a story.

Quando era criança, brincava na praia.

PronounPortuguese
euparecia
tuparecias
vocêparecia
ele/elaparecia
nósparecíamos
vósparecíeis
vocêspareciam
eles/elaspareciam

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

The condicional is for polite offers, soft questions, and hypothetical “would” outcomes, and it often closes a se + imperfeito do subjuntivo chain in formal style.

Você poderia me explicar outra vez?

PronounPortugueseEnglish
eupareceriaI would seem
tupareceriasyou would seem
vocêpareceriayou would seem
ele/elapareceriahe/she/it would seem
nóspareceríamoswe would seem
vóspareceríeisyou (pl.) would seem
vocêspareceriamyou (pl.) would seem
eles/elaspareceriamthey would seem

Future (Futuro do presente) Regular

The futuro do presente states future facts; in everyday conversation you will often hear ir + infinitive or even the present with a time adverb instead of the synthetic future.

Amanhã faremos a reunião mais cedo.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
euparecereiI will seem
tuparecerásyou will seem
vocêpareceráyou will seem
ele/elapareceráhe/she/it will seem
nóspareceremoswe will seem
vósparecereisyou (pl.) will seem
vocêsparecerãoyou (pl.) will seem
eles/elasparecerãothey will seem

Present perfect (Pretérito perfeito composto) Regular

The pretérito perfeito composto uses ter or haver plus the participle for a past that still touches the present or happens repeatedly up to now — a “have done” perfect with strong links to European norms.

Tenho pensado nisso há semanas.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
eutenho parecidoI have seemed
tutens parecidoyou have seemed
vocêtem parecidoyou have seemed
ele/elatem parecidohe/she/it has seemed
nóstemos parecidowe have seemed
vóstendes parecidoyou (pl.) have seemed
vocêstêm parecidoyou (pl.) have seemed
eles/elastêm parecidothey have seemed

Pluperfect (Mais-que-perfeito composto) Regular

The mais-que-perfeito composto is the pluperfect: an action was already finished before another past reference. It mirrors the English “had already”.

Já tinham saído quando chegámos.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
eutinha parecidoI had seemed
tutinhas parecidoyou had seemed
vocêtinha parecidoyou had seemed
ele/elatinha parecidohe/she/it had seemed
nóstínhamos parecidowe had seemed
vóstínheis parecidoyou (pl.) had seemed
vocêstinham parecidoyou (pl.) had seemed
eles/elastinham parecidothey had seemed

Conditional perfect (Condicional composto) Regular

The condicional composto expresses a counterfactual “would have” and appears with the right kind of if-clause in the subjunctive past for unreal conditions.

Teria aceite se tiveses avisado com antecedência.

PronounPortuguese
euteria parecido
tuterias parecido
vocêteria parecido
ele/elateria parecido
nósteríamos parecido
vósteríeis parecido
vocêsteriam parecido
eles/elasteriam parecido

Future perfect (Futuro composto) Regular

The futuro composto is the future-in-the-future: something will be finished before a later time. It is less frequent than the simple future but still useful for deadlines.

Até sexta, teremos lido tudo o relatório.

PronounPortugueseEnglish
euterei parecidoI will have seemed
tuterás parecidoyou will have seemed
vocêterá parecidoyou will have seemed
ele/elaterá parecidohe/she/it will have seemed
nósteremos parecidowe will have seemed
vóstereis parecidoyou (pl.) will have seemed
vocêsterão parecidoyou (pl.) will have seemed
eles/elasterão parecidothey will have seemed

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Conjuntivo presente) Regular

The present subjunctive appears after want, hope, fear, and impersonal triggers, and typically requires a new subject in the subordinate clause, just as in the other main Romance languages.

Espero que encontres o caminho fácil.

PronounPortuguese
eupareça
tupareças
vocêpareça
ele/elapareça
nóspareçamos
vóspareçais
vocêspareçam
eles/elaspareçam

Imperfect subjunctive (Conjuntivo pretérito imperf.) Regular

The imperfect subjunctive in se + subjunctive → condicional is the classic “if I were a rich man” line in European Portuguese, parallel to the Spanish -ra form.

Se tivesse mais tempo, aprenderia outro idioma.

PronounPortuguese
euparecesse
tuparecesses
vocêparecesse
ele/elaparecesse
nósparecêssemos
vósparecêsseis
vocêsparecessem
eles/elasparecessem

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular

The affirmative imperative in Portuguese is built with tu, você, nós, vós, and vocês forms; Brazilian norms favour você/vocês with third-person present verb shapes.

Diga a verdade, por favor.

PronounPortuguese
tuparece
vocêpareça
ele/elapareça
nóspareçamos
vósparecei
vocêspareçam
eles/elaspareçam

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands require não plus the present subjunctive for each person, which is a distinctive feature compared to other Romance systems that reuse present indicative in some slots.

Não falemos com pressa, está tudo calmo.

PronounPortuguese
tunão pareças
vocênão pareça
ele/elanão pareça
nósnão pareçamos
vósnão pareçais
vocêsnão pareçam
eles/elasnão pareçam