French grammar · Intermediate
Sembler in French: To Seem, and the Mood It Takes
Sembler means to seem or to appear. It links straight to an adjective (elle semble contente), takes an infinitive (il semble dormir), and works impersonally as il semble que, which calls for the subjunctive. Add an indirect pronoun and it flips: il me semble que takes the indicative.
Il semble fatigué ce matin.
He seems tired this morning.
What it is
Sembler is a regular -er verb with an irregular life. Its forms are entirely predictable, but the structures around it are not: what follows sembler changes depending on whether you are describing someone, reporting an impression, or hedging an opinion of your own.
Elle semble triste, elle semble avoir compris, il semble qu'elle ait raison. — She seems sad, she seems to have understood, it seems she's right.
How to spot it
Check what comes next. An adjective agrees with the subject; an infinitive follows with no preposition; a full clause needs que, and the mood of that clause depends on whether there's an indirect pronoun in front.
- Elles semblent contentes. — They seem happy. (adjective, agreeing)
- Il semble hésiter. — He seems to be hesitating. (bare infinitive)
- Il semble que ce soit trop tard. — It seems it's too late. (subjunctive)
- Il me semble que c'est trop tard. — It seems to me it's too late. (indicative)
Sembler never takes comme. Ça semble comme une bonne idée is an English structure wearing French words.
Sembler Quick Reference
The structures sembler appears in
| Structure | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| sembler + adjective | to seem (+ agreement) | elle semble prête — she seems ready |
| sembler + infinitive | to seem to do | il semble dormir — he seems to be asleep |
| sembler + noun | to seem like | cela semble une erreur — that seems like a mistake |
| il semble que + subjunctive | it seems that | il semble qu'il pleuve — it seems to be raining |
| il me semble que + indicative | it seems to me that | il me semble qu'il pleut — I think it's raining |
| il semble à quelqu'un que | it seems to someone that | il leur semble que c'est faux — they feel it's wrong |
| semble-t-il | it seems, apparently | il est, semble-t-il, absent — he's away, it seems |
Common Sembler Examples in French
Sembler in the sentences where it actually turns up:
Describing How Someone Looks or Feels
- Tu sembles inquiet.
- You seem worried.
- Elle semblait très calme.
- She seemed very calm.
- Ils semblent perdus.
- They seem lost.
- Cette réponse me semble étrange.
- That answer seems strange to me.
The adjective agrees with the subject, not with sembler: elle semble prête, ils semblent prêts.
Sembler Plus an Infinitive
- Il semble dormir.
- He seems to be sleeping.
- Elle semble avoir compris.
- She seems to have understood.
- Vous semblez connaître la ville.
- You seem to know the city.
- Le moteur semble fonctionner.
- The engine seems to be working.
No preposition comes between sembler and the infinitive, and no être either: not il semble être dormir.
The Impersonal Il Semble
- Il semble que le train soit annulé.
- It seems the train has been cancelled.
- Il semble qu'elle ait changé d'avis.
- It seems she has changed her mind.
- Il ne semble pas qu'ils viennent.
- It doesn't seem like they're coming.
- Il semblerait que ce soit une erreur.
- It would appear that it's a mistake.
Il semblerait que, in the conditional, is the polite hedge French uses in reports and news writing.
Softening an Opinion
- Il me semble que tu as raison.
- I think you're right.
- Il nous semble que le prix est trop élevé.
- We feel the price is too high.
- Il me semble avoir déjà entendu ça.
- It seems to me I've heard that before.
- Il me semblait bien l'avoir vu.
- I did think I'd seen him.
Il me semble que is a gentler je pense que: it presents the opinion as an impression rather than a claim.
How Sembler Behaves
The forms are regular, so all the difficulty sits in the four structures that can follow the verb.
Sembler Is a Linking Verb
Like être, sembler joins a subject to a description rather than to an object. That means the adjective after it agrees with the subject in gender and number.
Les rues semblaient désertes.
The streets seemed deserted.
Adjective agrees, as after être.
No Preposition Before an Infinitive
Where English inserts to, French puts nothing at all. Sembler joins the infinitive directly, and the infinitive can be a past infinitive if the action is already over.
Elle semble avoir oublié notre rendez-vous.
She seems to have forgotten our appointment.
sembler + infinitive, nothing between.
Il Semble Que Takes the Subjunctive
The impersonal il semble que presents something as uncertain, and uncertainty is what the subjunctive marks. The clause after it therefore uses subjunctive forms: soit, ait, puisse, vienne.
Il semble que la réunion soit reportée.
It seems the meeting has been postponed.
il semble que + soit, ait, vienne.
An Indirect Pronoun Restores the Indicative
Il me semble que, il te semble que, il leur semble que all take the indicative. Naming whose impression it is turns the sentence into an assertion, and assertions use the indicative.
Il me semble que c'est la bonne route.
It seems to me this is the right road.
Pronoun in, subjunctive out.
Sembler Can Be Inverted as a Comment
Dropped into the middle or end of a sentence, semble-t-il works like the English it seems, adding distance without changing the structure around it.
Le dossier est complet, semble-t-il.
The file is complete, it seems.
semble-t-il = it seems, as an aside.
Common Mistakes with Sembler
Incorrect: Il semble que c'est fermé. — It seems it's closed.
Correct: Il semble que ce soit fermé. — It seems it's closed.
Il semble que with no indirect pronoun marks the clause as unverified, and French marks that with the subjunctive. Ce soit, not c'est.
Incorrect: Il me semble qu'elle ait raison. — It seems to me she's right.
Correct: Il me semble qu'elle a raison. — It seems to me she's right.
The mirror error. Once you say whose impression it is, you are asserting something, so the clause returns to the indicative.
Incorrect: Ça semble comme une bonne idée. — That seems like a good idea.
Correct: Cela semble une bonne idée. — That seems like a good idea.
The like of seems like has no equivalent here. Sembler attaches directly to the noun, or you use on dirait une bonne idée.
Incorrect: Elles semblent contents. — They seem happy.
Correct: Elles semblent contentes. — They seem happy.
Sembler is a linking verb, so the adjective describes the subject and agrees with it. Elles takes contentes, with the feminine plural ending.
Sembler Conjugated
Sembler follows the regular -er pattern with no stem changes at all, so once you have the present the rest of the tenses fall out of it.
The four everyday tenses
Present, imperfect, passé composé (with avoir) and future. Nothing about the stem changes anywhere.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | passé composé | futur |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | semble | semblais | ai semblé | semblerai |
| tu | sembles | semblais | as semblé | sembleras |
| il / elle / on | semble | semblait | a semblé | semblera |
| nous | semblons | semblions | avons semblé | semblerons |
| vous | semblez | sembliez | avez semblé | semblerez |
| ils / elles | semblent | semblaient | ont semblé | sembleront |
In practice the imperfect is far more common than the passé composé here, because seeming is a state, not an event.
Conditional and subjunctive
The conditional il semblerait que is everywhere in written French. The subjunctive of sembler itself is rare but regular.
| Pronoun | conditionnel | subjonctif |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | semblerais | semble |
| tu | semblerais | sembles |
| il / elle / on | semblerait | semble |
| nous | semblerions | semblions |
| vous | sembleriez | sembliez |
| ils / elles | sembleraient | semblent |
Il semblerait que still takes the subjunctive in the clause that follows: il semblerait qu'il soit parti.
Il Semble Que and Il Me Semble Que
One small pronoun decides the mood of the following clause, which makes this pair worth learning as a unit.
Il semble que + subjunctive
With no indirect pronoun, il semble que presents the whole clause as unconfirmed, and the verb goes into the subjunctive.
- Il semble qu'elle ait raison.
- It seems she's right.
- Il semble que ce soit fermé le lundi.
- It seems it's closed on Mondays.
- Il ne semble pas qu'il puisse venir.
- It doesn't seem that he can come.
- Il semblerait que nous soyons en retard.
- It would appear we're late.
Negating or questioning il semble que only reinforces the subjunctive: the doubt is stronger, not weaker.
Il me semble que + indicative
Adding me, te, lui, nous, vous or leur names whose impression it is, and the clause becomes a statement in the indicative.
- Il me semble qu'elle a raison.
- It seems to me she's right.
- Il me semble que c'est trop cher.
- I think it's too expensive.
- Il nous semble que tu vas trop vite.
- We feel you're going too fast.
- Il leur semble que le projet avance.
- They feel the project is moving along.
Use this instead of je pense que when you want to sound tentative rather than assertive.
Sembler as a parenthetical
Inverted, sembler becomes a short comment you can drop anywhere in the sentence, common in journalism and formal writing.
- Il est, semble-t-il, très occupé.
- He is, it seems, very busy.
- À ce qu'il semble, rien n'a changé.
- From what it seems, nothing has changed.
- Le projet avance, semble-t-il.
- The project is moving forward, it seems.
The -t- in semble-t-il is there only for pronunciation, exactly as in a-t-il and va-t-elle.
Sembler FAQs
- What does sembler mean in French?
- To seem or to appear. It can describe a person (tu sembles fatigué), attach to an infinitive (elle semble hésiter), or run impersonally as il semble que, it seems that.
- Does il semble que take the subjunctive?
- Yes. Il semble que ce soit une erreur, il semble qu'il ait oublié. The impersonal form presents the clause as unconfirmed, and that is precisely what the subjunctive marks in French.
- Why is il me semble que followed by the indicative?
- Because the indirect pronoun turns an impersonal hedge into a personal claim. Il me semble qu'il a raison is you asserting an opinion, so the verb stays in the indicative — the same logic as je crois qu'il a raison.
- What's the difference between sembler and paraître?
- Sembler is an inference, paraître is an appearance or a report. Il semble fatigué is my impression; il paraît fatigué is how he looks; il paraît qu'il est fatigué means apparently he's tired, and takes the indicative.
- How do you say 'it seems to me' in French?
- Il me semble que, followed by the indicative: il me semble que tu as raison. For a shorter version, à mon avis or je trouve que both work, though il me semble que is the most tentative of the three.