paraît

Paraître is a French verb meaning to appear, to seem, or to be published. In everyday use it covers both perceivable appearance and a sense of becoming available in print, as in “the book appears tomorrow.” The form il paraît is the third-person singular present indicative. The infinitive is paraître and the past participle is paru.

Etymology and related forms: paraître comes from Old French paraître, originating in Latin terms related to appearing or being evident, and is related to nowadays terms such as apparaître in sense of becoming visible. The verb is used both for personal appearance (“Il paraît fatigué”) and for publication (“Le livre paraît demain”).

Conjugation highlights: Present indicative forms include je parais, tu parais, il paraît, nous paraissons, vous paraissez, ils paraissent. Other common tenses include imperfect: je paraissais, tu paraissais, il paraissait, nous paraissions, vous paraissiez, ils paraissaient; future: je paraîtrai, tu paraîtras, il paraîtra, nous paraîtrons, vous paraîtrez, ils paraîtront; conditional: je paraîtrais, tu paraîtrait, il paraîtrait, nous paraîtrions, vous paraîtriez, ils paraîtraient. The subjunctive presents as: que je paraisse, que tu paraisses, qu’il paraisse, que nous paraissions, que vous paraissiez, qu’ils paraissent. The past participle is paru; passé composé is formed with the auxiliary avoir in most senses (e.g., Le livre a paru hier).

Usage notes: The expression il paraît que introduces reported information or hedge-like statements: “Il paraît que la réunion est annulée.” It can also describe appearance with adjectives: “Il paraît fatigué.” In print contexts, paraître also means to be published, e.g., “Le roman paraît bientôt.”

See also: sembler, apparaître, publier.