The French verb paraître means "to appear, seem". Below are its 7 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of paraître is je parais, tu parais, il/elle paraît, nous paraissons, vous paraissez, ils/elles paraissent. It is irregular: 5 of its 6 present forms break the regular -re pattern. The tables below cover 7 tenses, from the present to the imperative. Its present participle is paraissant and its past participle is paru.
Forms in orange break the regular -re pattern.
| je | parais (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tu | parais (irregular) | |
| il/ | paraît | |
| nous | paraissons (irregular) | |
| vous | paraissez (irregular) | |
| ils/ | paraissent (irregular) |
| j' | ai paru (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | as paru (irregular) |
| il/ | a paru (irregular) |
| nous | avons paru (irregular) |
| vous | avez paru (irregular) |
| ils/ | ont paru (irregular) |
| je | paraissais (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | paraissais (irregular) |
| il/ | paraissait (irregular) |
| nous | paraissions (irregular) |
| vous | paraissiez (irregular) |
| ils/ | paraissaient (irregular) |
| je | paraîtrai |
|---|---|
| tu | paraîtras |
| il/ | paraîtra |
| nous | paraîtrons |
| vous | paraîtrez |
| ils/ | paraîtront |
| je | paraîtrais |
|---|---|
| tu | paraîtrais |
| il/ | paraîtrait |
| nous | paraîtrions |
| vous | paraîtriez |
| ils/ | paraîtraient |
| que je | paraisse (irregular) |
|---|---|
| que tu | paraisses (irregular) |
| qu'il/ | paraisse (irregular) |
| que nous | paraissions (irregular) |
| que vous | paraissiez (irregular) |
| qu'ils/ | paraissent (irregular) |
| tu | parais (irregular) |
|---|---|
| nous | paraissons (irregular) |
| vous | paraissez (irregular) |
Paraître is irregular. The present uses parais, paraît, paraissons, and paraissent, while the imperfect uses paraissais. Its participles are paraissant and paru, and the future uses paraîtrai.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in French with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
No, paraître is irregular. Its table includes forms such as paraît, paraissons, and paru.
They are paraisse, paraisses, paraisse, paraissions, paraissiez, and paraissent.
The present participle is paraissant and the past participle is paru. The auxiliary is avoir.