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Seems to Be a Verb
The regular -er verb sembler means "to seem" and sometimes needs to be followed by the subjunctive.
Sembler = to seem
It can be followed by an adjective…
| Il semble fatigué ce matin. | He seems tired this morning. | |
| Elle semble heureuse de te voir. | She seems happy to see you. |
… or an infinitive.
| Tu sembles avoir beaucoup de travail en ce moment. | You seem to have a lot of work at the moment. | |
| Les enfants semblent s’amuser dans le jardin. | The children seem to be having fun in the garden. |
Il semble = It seems
The impersonal il semble means "it seems," and can be followed by adjective + de + infinitive …
| Il semble difficile de résoudre ce problème rapidement. | It seems difficult to solve this problem quickly. | |
| Il semble possible de trouver une solution alternative. | It seems possible to find an alternative solution. |
… or que + subjunctive.
| Il semble que tout le monde soit d’accord. | It seems that everyone agrees. | |
| Il semble qu’elle ait oublié notre rendez-vous. | It seems that she forgot our meeting. |
However, if il semble is used with an indirect object pronoun, it takes the indicative.
| Il me semble que tout le monde est d’accord. | It seems to me that everyone agrees. | |
| Il nous semble qu’elle a oublié notre rendez-vous. | It seems to us that she forgot our meeting. |
Cela semble = That seems
This impersonal phrase is followed simply by an adjective.
| Cela semble évident. | That seems obvious. | |
| Cela ne semble pas important. | That doesn’t seem important. |
Expressions with sembler
| comme bon me / te semble | as I / you see fit | |
| Il me semble que non | I don’t think so | |
| Il me semble que oui | I think so | |
| Prenez ce que bon vous semble | Take what you wish | |
| Que vous en semble ? | What do you make of it? |
Related lessons
- Sembler conjugations
- Regular -er verbs
- Impersonal verbs
- Subjunctive
- Introduction to verbs
- Indirect object pronouns
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