sembler

French

Etymology

From Middle French sembler, from Old French sambler, sembler, from Late Latin similāre, present active infinitive of similō, from Latin similis. Doublet of simuler.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /sɑ̃.ble/
  • audio(file)

Verb

sembler

  1. (intransitive, impersonal) to seem, to resemble
    Il semblerait qu'il y ait des différences significatives entre les deux groupes.
    There would seem to be significant differences between the two groups.
  2. (intransitive) to appear

Usage notes
  • When the verb sembler is followed by the subordinating conjunction que, the following verb is in the subjunctive mood:
    Il semble qu'il pleuve
  • However this is not the case when sembler is used affirmatively with an indirect object:
    Il me semble qu'il pleut

Conjugation

This verb is impersonal and is conjugated only in the third-person singular.

Conjugation of sembler (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple sembler
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple semblant
/sɑ̃.blɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle semblé
/sɑ̃.ble/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses)		 present — — semble
/sɑ̃bl/		 — — —
imperfect — — semblait
/sɑ̃.blɛ/		 — — —
past historic2 — — sembla
/sɑ̃.bla/		 — — —
future — — semblera
/sɑ̃.blə.ʁa/		 — — —
conditional — — semblerait
/sɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/		 — — —
(compound
tenses)		 present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior2 past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple
tenses)		 present — — semble
/sɑ̃bl/		 — — —
imperfect2 — — semblât
/sɑ̃.bla/		 — — —
(compound
tenses)		 past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — — — — — —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

Further reading

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French sembler.

Verb

sembler

  1. to seem; to appear

Conjugation
  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of sembler
infinitive simple sembler
compound avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2 simple semblant
compound present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle semblé
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative ie (i’) tu il, elle nous vous ilz, elles
(simple
tenses)		 present semble sembles semble semblons semblez semblent
imperfect semblois, sembloys semblois, sembloys sembloit, sembloyt semblions, semblyons sembliez, semblyez sembloient, sembloyent
past historic sembla semblas sembla semblasmes semblastes semblerent
future semblerai, sembleray sembleras semblera semblerons semblerez sembleront
conditional semblerois, sembleroys semblerois, sembleroys sembleroit, sembleroyt semblerions, sembleryons sembleriez, sembleryez sembleroient, sembleroyent
(compound
tenses)		 present perfect present indicative of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
past anterior past historic of avoir + past participle
future perfect future of avoir + past participle
conditional perfect conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive que ie (i’) que tu qu’il, qu’elle que nous que vous qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple
tenses)		 present semble sembles semble semblons semblez semblent
imperfect semblasse semblasses semblast semblassions semblassiez semblassent
(compound
tenses)		 past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — semble — semblons semblez —
compound — simple imperative of avoir + past participle — simple imperative of avoir + past participle simple imperative of avoir + past participle —
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants
  • French: sembler

Old French

Verb

sembler

  1. Alternative form of sambler

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of sembler (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive sembler avoir semblé
gerund en semblant Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle semblant
past participle semblé
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses		 present semble sembles semble semblons semblez semblent
imperfect sembloie, sembleie, sembloe, sembleve sembloies, sembleies, sembloes, sembleves sembloit, sembleit, semblot, sembleve sembliiens, sembliens sembliiez, sembliez sembloient, sembleient, sembloent, semblevent
preterite semblai semblas sembla semblames semblastes semblerent
future semblerai sembleras semblera semblerons sembleroiz, semblereiz, semblerez sembleront
conditional sembleroie, semblereie sembleroies, semblereies sembleroit, semblereit sembleriiens, sembleriens sembleriiez, sembleriez sembleroient, semblereient
compound
tenses		 present perfect Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
past anterior Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle
future perfect Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
conditional perfect Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive que jo que tu qu’il que nos que vos qu’il
simple
tenses		 present semble sembles semble semblons semblez semblent
imperfect semblasse semblasses semblast semblissons, semblissiens semblissoiz, semblissez, semblissiez semblassent
compound
tenses		 past Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— semble — semblons semblez —
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