Parecerse Conjugation in Spanish

parecerse means «to look like, to resemble». It is a spelling-changing -er verb, reflexive verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. On this page you will find the full conjugation of parecerse in all thirteen tenses, notes on when to use each one, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. For example: «Me parezco todos los días» — I look like every day.

Quick facts

  • Infinitive: parecerse
  • English: to look like, to resemble
  • Verb type: spelling-changing -er verb, reflexive
  • Ending: -er
  • Gerund: pareciendo
  • Past participle: parecido
  • Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + parecido)
  • Reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nos, os, se — one before every conjugated form, matching the person.
  • Spelling change: in the present indicative the yo form is parezco, not pareco, so the stem-final letter changes before e and i.
  • Spelling change: in the present subjunctive the yo form is parezca, not pareca, so the stem-final letter changes before e and i.

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for parecerse, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

parecerse is reflexive: Me parezco todos los días; te pareces todos los días. Without the pronoun, the verb means doing the action to someone else rather than to yourself, so keep the pronoun with the form.

Full conjugation tables

Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for parecerse. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.

Gerund: pareciendo · Past participle: parecido

Present Indicative

Person Pronoun Form
yo me parezco
tú te pareces
él/ella/Ud. se parece
nosotros/as nos parecemos
vosotros/as os parecéis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parecen

The present tense describes habits, facts and what is happening now. For parecerse, the yo form is parezco, as in the examples below. Use the present for routines («todos los días») and for general truths, and remember that Spanish often uses the present where English would use a progressive or a near future.

Preterite

Person Pronoun Form
yo me parecí
tú te pareciste
él/ella/Ud. se pareció
nosotros/as nos parecimos
vosotros/as os parecisteis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parecieron

The preterite describes completed actions in the past — things that started and finished. «Ayer yo parecí» is the classic use. Do not confuse it with the imperfect: the preterite moves the story forward, one finished event at a time.

Imperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me parecía
tú te parecías
él/ella/Ud. se parecía
nosotros/as nos parecíamos
vosotros/as os parecíais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parecían

The imperfect describes the past as background: habits, descriptions and actions in progress. «De pequeño, yo parecía» shows the habitual use. It sets the scene while the preterite reports what happened inside it.

Future

Person Pronoun Form
yo me pareceré
tú te parecerás
él/ella/Ud. se parecerá
nosotros/as nos pareceremos
vosotros/as os pareceréis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parecerán

The future tense states what will happen. For parecerse the future is built on the infinitive: «Mañana yo pareceré». It is also used for predictions and promises, and in spoken Spanish it often alternates with ir a + infinitive.

Conditional

Person Pronoun Form
yo me parecería
tú te parecerías
él/ella/Ud. se parecería
nosotros/as nos pareceríamos
vosotros/as os pareceríais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parecerían

The conditional expresses what would happen: wishes, polite requests and hypothetical results. «Si tuviera más tiempo, yo parecería» is the typical pattern. It shares its stem with the future and changes only the endings.

Present Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me he parecido
tú te has parecido
él/ella/Ud. se ha parecido
nosotros/as nos hemos parecido
vosotros/as os habéis parecido
ellos/ellas/Uds. se han parecido

The present perfect connects the past with the present: something that has happened, often today or recently. It is haber in the present plus the past participle: «Hoy yo he parecido». In Spain it is used for anything that happened today; in Latin America the preterite is often preferred.

Pluperfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me había parecido
tú te habías parecido
él/ella/Ud. se había parecido
nosotros/as nos habíamos parecido
vosotros/as os habíais parecido
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habían parecido

The pluperfect describes an event that happened before another past event: «Cuando llegué, ya había parecido». It is haber in the imperfect plus the past participle, and it is the tense for explaining what had already happened when something else took place.

Future Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habré parecido
tú te habrás parecido
él/ella/Ud. se habrá parecido
nosotros/as nos habremos parecido
vosotros/as os habréis parecido
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrán parecido

The future perfect looks back from a future point: by then, something will already have happened. «Para mañana, yo habré parecido» is the pattern — haber in the future plus the past participle. It is less common in speech but regular in formal writing.

Conditional Perfect

Person Pronoun Form
yo me habría parecido
tú te habrías parecido
él/ella/Ud. se habría parecido
nosotros/as nos habríamos parecido
vosotros/as os habríais parecido
ellos/ellas/Uds. se habrían parecido

The conditional perfect expresses what would have happened: «Yo habría parecido si hubiera podido». It is haber in the conditional plus the past participle, and it is the tense for regrets and missed chances.

Present Subjunctive

Person Pronoun Form
yo me parezca
tú te parezcas
él/ella/Ud. se parezca
nosotros/as nos parezcamos
vosotros/as os parecáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parezcan

The present subjunctive appears after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions: «Espero que él parezca». The trigger is in the main clause; the subjunctive is the mood of uncertainty, desire and influence. Learn the yo form first — most of the table follows from it.

Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra forms)

Person Pronoun Form
yo me pareciera
tú te parecieras
él/ella/Ud. se pareciera
nosotros/as nos pareciéramos
vosotros/as os parecierais
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parecieran

The imperfect subjunctive is the past partner of the present subjunctive, used after past-tense triggers and in si-clauses: «Si él pareciera, todo sería distinto». The table above shows the -ra forms, the ones you will hear most often. There is also a less common -se set built on the same stem.

Imperative — Affirmative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te parece
él/ella/Ud. se parezca
nosotros/as nos parezcamos
vosotros/as os pareced
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parezcan

There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

The affirmative imperative gives direct commands and instructions: «¡parece!». There is no yo form — you cannot command yourself. The tú form is the one you will use with friends and family, and the usted form with people you address formally.

Imperative — Negative

Person Pronoun Form
tú te parezcas
él/ella/Ud. se parezca
nosotros/as nos parezcamos
vosotros/as os parecáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. se parezcan

There is no yo form in the imperative — you cannot command yourself.

In real speech the reflexive pronoun attaches to the end of an affirmative command; the table shows the pronoun and the form separately so you can see both parts.

The negative imperative tells someone not to do something: «¡No parezcas!». Unlike the affirmative imperative, the negative forms come from the present subjunctive, which is why they look different. Never use the affirmative form after no.

Example sentences

  1. Me parezco todos los días. — I look like every day.
  2. Ayer me parecí por la tarde. — Yesterday I looked like in the afternoon.
  3. Antes, me parecía todos los días. — In the past, I used to look like every day.
  4. Mañana me pareceré sin falta. — Tomorrow I will look like without fail.
  5. Si tuviera más tiempo, me parecería ahora mismo. — If I had more time, I would look like right now.
  6. Hoy me he parecido dos veces. — Today I have looked like twice.
  7. Espero que te parezcas pronto. — I hope You look like soon.
  8. Si me pareciera, todo sería distinto. — If I looked like, everything would be different.
  9. Ahora mismo me estoy pareciendo. — Right now I am looking like.
  10. ¡No te parezcas! — Don't look like!

Common mistakes

1. Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

Wrong: yo parezco todos los días.

Right: me parezco todos los días.

parecerse is reflexive: the pronoun me belongs before every conjugated form. Without it, you are using the non-reflexive verb, which means something different — doing the action to someone else instead of to yourself.

2. Missing the spelling change in the present indicative

Wrong: Yo pareco.

Right: Yo parezco.

The spelling changes so the pronunciation stays the same: the yo form in the present indicative is parezco, not pareco. The endings are regular — only the spelling of the stem-final letter adjusts before e and i.

3. Using the imperfect for a finished event

Wrong: Ayer me parecía.

Right: Ayer me parecí.

Yesterday's finished action needs the preterite, parecí. The imperfect parecía describes what used to happen or what was going on, not a single completed event.

4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger

Wrong: Espero que te pareces.

Right: Espero que te parezcas.

After espero que, Spanish requires the subjunctive: parezcas, not the indicative pareces. Wishes, hopes and doubts all trigger this change.

5. Using the affirmative imperative after no

Wrong: No te parece.

Right: No te parezcas.

Negative commands use the subjunctive-based forms: no parezcas. The affirmative parece can never follow no.

6. Confusing the gerund with the past participle

Wrong: He pareciendo.

Right: He parecido.

The perfect tenses use haber plus the past participle: he parecido. The gerund pareciendo goes with estar for actions in progress («Estoy pareciendo»), never with haber.

Quiz

Test yourself on the forms above. Choose the correct answer, then check the key below.

1. What is the yo form of parecerse in the present indicative?

- (a) parece
- (b) pareces
- (c) parecemos
- (d) parezco

2. What is the tú form of parecerse in the preterite?

- (a) parecí
- (b) parecimos
- (c) pareciste
- (d) pareció

3. What is the él/ella/Ud. form of parecerse in the imperfect?

- (a) parecía
- (b) parecía
- (c) parecíamos
- (d) parecías

4. What is the nosotros/as form of parecerse in the future?

- (a) parecerá
- (b) pareceré
- (c) pareceremos
- (d) parecerás

5. What is the vosotros/as form of parecerse in the conditional?

- (a) parecería
- (b) parecerías
- (c) pareceríais
- (d) parecería

6. What is the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of parecerse in the present perfect?

- (a) han parecido
- (b) has parecido
- (c) he parecido
- (d) ha parecido

7. What is the yo form of parecerse in the present subjunctive?

- (a) parezca
- (b) parezcas
- (c) parezca
- (d) parezcamos

8. What is the tú form of parecerse in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)?

- (a) pareciera
- (b) pareciéramos
- (c) parecieras
- (d) pareciera

9. What is the gerund of parecerse?

- (a) pareciendo
- (b) parecerse
- (c) parezco
- (d) parecido

10. What is the past participle of parecerse?

- (a) parecido
- (b) pareciendo
- (c) parecí
- (d) parecerse

Answer key

1. (d) — In the present indicative, the yo form of parecerse is parezco. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 2. (c) — In the preterite, the tú form of parecerse is pareciste. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 3. (a) — In the imperfect, the él/ella/Ud. form of parecerse is parecía. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 4. (c) — In the future, the nosotros/as form of parecerse is pareceremos. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 5. (c) — In the conditional, the vosotros/as form of parecerse is pareceríais. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 6. (a) — In the present perfect, the ellos/ellas/Uds. form of parecerse is han parecido. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 7. (a) — In the present subjunctive, the yo form of parecerse is parezca. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 8. (c) — In the imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms), the tú form of parecerse is parecieras. The other options are the same tense but different persons. 9. (a) — The gerund of parecerse is pareciendo. It is used with estar for the progressive: «Estoy pareciendo». 10. (a) — The past participle of parecerse is parecido. It follows haber in all the perfect tenses: «he parecido».

Frequently asked questions

Is parecerse regular or irregular?

Mostly yes — parecerse takes the regular -er endings, but the spelling of the stem changes in some forms (for example the yo preterite parecí). The endings never change; only the stem-final letter adjusts so the pronunciation stays the same.

What are the gerund and past participle of parecerse?

The gerund is pareciendo and the past participle is parecido. Use the gerund with estar for actions in progress («Estoy pareciendo») and the participle with haber for the perfect tenses («he parecido»).

How do I say «I look like» in Spanish?

Say «Me parezco todos los días». That is the yo form of the present tense, the form you need for talking about yourself right now.

What is the difference between the preterite and the imperfect of parecerse?

Use the preterite (parecí) for a single finished event and the imperfect (parecía) for habits and background. «Ayer yo parecí» reports something that happened and ended; «Antes, yo parecía» describes what used to happen.

When do I use the subjunctive with parecerse?

Use the subjunctive after wishes, doubts, emotions and impersonal expressions — for example «Espero que tú parezcas». The trigger sits in the main clause; once it is there, the subjunctive form is required, not a stylistic choice.

What does the -se in parecerse mean?

The -se marks parecerse as reflexive: the action comes back to the subject. You always pair the form with its pronoun — me, te, se, nos, os, se — placed before the conjugated verb. Dropping the pronoun changes the meaning, so treat the pronoun as part of the verb.

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