obskurrel

[viscid crater]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[dawn hamlet]

• Paraître : to appear/seem

Il paraît heureux.
He seems happy.

• Sembler : To seem

Il semble malade.
He seems ill.

• Avoir l'air : to seem like/have an air of

Ça a l'air amusant !
That sounds/seems fun!

[solar plume]

Question

Are il semble malade and il semble être malade both correct?

I usually use the second variant

[dawn hamlet]

Yes.

Like 'He appears/seems (to be) ill', I'd say.

[tropic shale]

So paraître and sembler can be used interchangeably?

[dawn hamlet]

Mostly. From what I've seen, 'sembler' is more subjective, while 'paraître' is more neutral.

[tropic shale]

thank you very much for help

[dawn hamlet]

Then there's 'Il me semble que' and 'Il paraît que'.

The first is subjective: it seems to me that ...

The latter is often used to convey what you've heard from others/what is generally believed to be true.

You might encounter 'Askip' in casual French, which is short for 'a ce qu'il paraît'. You can think of it as 'apparently' or 'according to what is said'.

[tropic shale]

interesting