Parecer Conjugation in Spanish
parecer means “seem” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 17 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for giving an opinion, for seeming or appearing, and for looking like someone. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of parecer — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo parezco cansado todos los días.” — “I seem tired every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: parecer
- English: to seem
- Verb type: Irregular — spelling-changing
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: pareciendo
- Past participle: parecido
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for parecer. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | parezco |
| tú | pareces |
| él/ella/Ud. | parece |
| nosotros/as | parecemos |
| vosotros/as | parecéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parecen |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | parecí |
| tú | pareciste |
| él/ella/Ud. | pareció |
| nosotros/as | parecimos |
| vosotros/as | parecisteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parecieron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | parecía |
| tú | parecías |
| él/ella/Ud. | parecía |
| nosotros/as | parecíamos |
| vosotros/as | parecíais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parecían |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | pareceré |
| tú | parecerás |
| él/ella/Ud. | parecerá |
| nosotros/as | pareceremos |
| vosotros/as | pareceréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parecerán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | parecería |
| tú | parecerías |
| él/ella/Ud. | parecería |
| nosotros/as | pareceríamos |
| vosotros/as | pareceríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parecerían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he parecido |
| tú | has parecido |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha parecido |
| nosotros/as | hemos parecido |
| vosotros/as | habéis parecido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han parecido |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había parecido |
| tú | habías parecido |
| él/ella/Ud. | había parecido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos parecido |
| vosotros/as | habíais parecido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían parecido |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré parecido |
| tú | habrás parecido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá parecido |
| nosotros/as | habremos parecido |
| vosotros/as | habréis parecido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán parecido |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría parecido |
| tú | habrías parecido |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría parecido |
| nosotros/as | habríamos parecido |
| vosotros/as | habríais parecido |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían parecido |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | parezca |
| tú | parezcas |
| él/ella/Ud. | parezca |
| nosotros/as | parezcamos |
| vosotros/as | parecáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parezcan |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | pareciera |
| tú | parecieras |
| él/ella/Ud. | pareciera |
| nosotros/as | pareciéramos |
| vosotros/as | parecierais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parecieran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | parece |
| él/ella/Ud. | parezca |
| nosotros/as | parezcamos |
| vosotros/as | pareced |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parezcan |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | parezcas |
| él/ella/Ud. | parezca |
| nosotros/as | parezcamos |
| vosotros/as | parecáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | parezcan |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | pareciendo |
| Past participle | parecido |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo parezco cansado todos los días.” — “I seem tired every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú pareciste una buena idea ayer.” — “You seemed a good idea yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él parecía difícil al principio antes.” — “He used to seem difficult at first before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo pareceré cansado mañana.” — “I will seem tired tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú parecerías una buena idea algún día.” — “You would seem a good idea someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha parecido difícil al principio esta semana.” — “He has seemed difficult at first this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había parecido cansado antes de la fiesta.” — “I had seemed tired before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás parecido una buena idea para mañana.” — “You will have seemed a good idea by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría parecido difícil al principio ayer.” — “He would have seemed difficult at first yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo parezca cansado.” — “It is important that i seem tired.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú parecieras una buena idea.” — “I wish you seemed a good idea.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of parecer gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Parece difícil al principio!” — “Seem difficult at first!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of parecer gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No parezcas cansado.” — “Do not seem tired.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with parecer, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo parezco cansado todos los días.” — “I seem tired every day.”
- “Tú pareciste una buena idea ayer.” — “You seemed a good idea yesterday.”
- “Él parecía difícil al principio antes.” — “He used to seem difficult at first before.”
- “Yo pareceré una buena idea mañana.” — “I will seem a good idea tomorrow.”
- “Tú parecerías cansado algún día.” — “You would seem tired someday.”
- “Él ha parecido difícil al principio esta semana.” — “He has seemed difficult at first this week.”
- “Yo había parecido cansado antes de la fiesta.” — “I had seemed tired before the party.”
- “Tú habrás parecido una buena idea para mañana.” — “You will have seemed a good idea by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él parezca difícil al principio.” — “It is important that he seem difficult at first.”
- “¡Parece cansado!” — “Seem tired!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo parecer cansado.”
✓ Right: “Yo parezco cansado.”
The infinitive parecer never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form parezco.
2. Confusing parecer with creer
✗ Wrong: “Yo creo cansado.”
✓ Right: “Yo parezco cansado.”
Parecer is to seem; creer is to believe something is true.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy parecido cansado.”
✓ Right: “Yo he parecido cansado.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle parecido.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “pareci”
✓ Right: “parecí”
The accent on parecí is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú pareces cansado.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú parezcas cansado.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use parezcas here, not the indicative pareces.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo parecí cansado antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo parecía cansado antes.”
The preterite parecí describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect parecía.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on parecer. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of parecer in the Present indicative?
- A) pareces
- B) parece
- C) parecemos
- D) parezco
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of parecer in the Preterite?
- A) pareciste
- B) parecimos
- C) pareció
- D) parecí
What is the nosotros/as form of parecer in the Imperfect?
- A) parecíais
- B) parecíamos
- C) parecía
- D) parecías
What is the tú form of parecer in the Future?
- A) parecerás
- B) pareceré
- C) parecerá
- D) pareceremos
What is the yo form of parecer in the Conditional?
- A) parecerías
- B) pareceríamos
- C) pareceríais
- D) parecería
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of parecer in the Present subjunctive?
- A) parezcamos
- B) parecáis
- C) parezca
- D) parezcas
What is the yo form of parecer in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) parecierais
- B) pareciera
- C) parecieras
- D) pareciéramos
What is the gerund of parecer?
- A) pareciendo
- B) poniendo
- C) quedando
- D) creyendo
What is the past participle of parecer?
- A) puesto
- B) quedado
- C) creído
- D) parecido
What does parecer mean in English?
- A) to stay
- B) to believe
- C) to seem
- D) to put
Answer key
- D) parezco — the yo form of parecer in the present indicative is parezco. The other options (pareces, parece, parecemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) pareció — the él/ella/Ud. form of parecer in the preterite is pareció. The other options (parecí, pareciste, parecimos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) parecíamos — the nosotros/as form of parecer in the imperfect is parecíamos. The other options (parecía, parecías, parecía) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) parecerás — the tú form of parecer in the future is parecerás. The other options (pareceré, parecerá, pareceremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) parecería — the yo form of parecer in the conditional is parecería. The other options (parecerías, parecería, pareceríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) parezca — the él/ella/Ud. form of parecer in the present subjunctive is parezca. The other options (parezca, parezcas, parezcamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) pareciera — the yo form of parecer in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is pareciera. The other options (parecieras, pareciera, pareciéramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) pareciendo — the gerund of parecer is pareciendo; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) parecido — the past participle of parecer is parecido; perfect tenses use haber + parecido. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to seem — parecer means “to seem” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does parecer mean in English?
parecer means “to seem”. You use it for giving an opinion, for seeming or appearing, and for looking like someone. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is parecer regular or irregular?
parecer is irregular — spelling-changing, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is pareciendo and the past participle is parecido.
What are the gerund and past participle of parecer?
The gerund is pareciendo — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is parecido — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he parecido (I have seemed).
What is the difference between parecer and creer?
Parecer is to seem; creer is to believe something is true. If you are unsure, check the full table for creer and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I seem” in Spanish?
Say “Yo parezco cansado.” — “I seem tired every day.” The yo form of the present is parezco, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- parecer in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- parecer examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Poner conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Quedar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Creer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise parecer with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise parecer with the interactive tool.