pareça

Pareça is a Portuguese verb form of parecer, meaning “to seem” or “to appear.” It is the present subjunctive form used for the first person singular (eu pareça) and for the third person singular (ele/ela/você pareça). The corresponding full present-subjunctive paradigm is: eu pareça, tu pareças, ele pareça, nós pareçamos, vós pareçais, eles pareçam.

In usage, pareça appears in subordinate clauses introduced by expressions that trigger the subjunctive, such as doubt, whim, desire, or possibility. Examples include: “I hope that it seems natural” rendered as “Espero que pareça natural,” and “Não acredito que pareça fácil” (I don’t believe that it seems easy). It also occurs in idiomatic phrases and literary constructions.

The form is derived from the verb parecer and shares its semantic core, but its mood, rather than a tense, affects clauses that describe uncertainty or subjectivity. The present subjunctive, including pareça, contrasts with the indicative parecer is “parece,” which states a fact or appearance. The pronunciation of pareça in Brazilian and European Portuguese is typically pa-RE-sa, with the stress on the second syllable and using a soft “s” before a, represented orthographically by the cedilla in “ça.”

See also:

- Parecer

- Subjunctive mood in Portuguese

- Portuguese verb conjugation

Notes:

- Pareça can refer to eu pareça or ele/ela/você pareça in present subjunctive; context clarifies the subject.

- The phrase “pareça mentira” is a common fixed expression meaning “it may seem like a lie.”