to seem / to look
A judgement from appearance. Followed by an adjective, which agrees with the subject.
Pare obosit.
He looks tired.
Pare o idee bună.
It seems like a good idea.
#59 · Verb
părea
In Romanian, părea means “to seem / to look”. It’s the #59 most frequently used Romanian word. Below you’ll find how to use it, its forms, real example sentences, and common word pairings.
Meaning & Use
A părea is "to seem", rank 59, and its frequency is extremely lopsided: the 3rd singular pare accounts for the large majority of all uses. That is because the verb mostly lives in three fixed frames — Se pare că… "It seems that…", Mi se pare că… "I think / it seems to me that…", and Pare bine "It looks fine". Learn those three and you have almost the whole word.
neutralit seems that… (se pare că)
The impersonal reflexive frame — reported, not witnessed. The English equivalent of "apparently".
Se pare că plouă.
Apparently it is raining.
Se pare că nu vine.
It seems he isn't coming.
I think / in my opinion (mi se pare)
With a dative clitic it becomes the softest way to give an opinion in Romanian — much used to disagree politely.
Mi se pare corect.
It seems right to me.
Ți se pare?
Does it seem so to you?
to be imagining things (ți se pare)
The same frame takes a dismissive sense: "you are imagining it".
Ți se pare.
You're imagining it.
Forms you’ll actually hear
Ranked by how often each form shows up in spoken Romanian. The top form cover about 88% of everyday use — learn these first.
pare88%
Show 6 more forms
părea4%
părut3%
par3%
pară2%
păreau<1%
părem<1%
Conjugation
- Infinitive
- a părea
- Past Participle
- părut
- Gerund
- părând
- Auxiliary
- a avea
- Reflexive
- No
- Transitivity
- intransitive
| Tense | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | par | pari | pare | părem | păreți | par |
| Imperfect | păream | păreai | părea | păream | păreați | păreau |
| Perfect compus | am părut | ai părut | a părut | am părut | ați părut | au părut |
| Future | voi părea | vei părea | va părea | vom părea | veți părea | vor părea |
| Conditional | aș părea | ai părea | ar părea | am părea | ați părea | ar părea |
| Subjunctive | să par | să pari | să pară | să părem | să păreți | să pară |
- No imperative — you cannot order somebody to seem something, so the form simply is not used.
- The infinitive părea and the imperfect 3rd singular părea are spelled identically; only the sentence tells them apart.
- The reflexive a se părea is not a separate verb to learn — it is the same word in its impersonal frame, se pare / mi se pare.
Examples
Pare bine.
It looks fine.
pare - The dominant form by a wide margin. Note bine (adverb) here, not bun — the judgement is about the situation, not about a noun.
Se pare că am greșit.
It seems I was wrong.
se pare - Impersonal se pare că plus a full clause. The verb stays 3rd singular whatever follows.
Mi se pare că e prea târziu.
I think it is too late.
mi se pare - The dative clitic mi marks whose impression it is. Swap it for ți, îi, ne, vă, le and you change the person without touching the verb.
Nu par surprinși.
They don't seem surprised.
par - The 3rd plural par with an adjective agreeing in the plural — surprinși, not surprins.
Nu vreau să par nepoliticos.
I don't want to seem rude.
să par - Subjunctive after vreau să. For eu the subjunctive matches the present exactly.
Mi s-a părut interesant.
I found it interesting.
părut - The past of the dative frame: mi s-a părut, with the clitic se reduced to s- before the auxiliary a.
Mi se pare că… does not mean "it appears to me" in a formal sense — it is the ordinary, everyday way of saying "I think". Using cred că for every opinion and never mi se pare makes you sound blunter than you intend.
In expressions
Common phrases built around părea — worth learning as whole units.
îmi pare rău— I'm sorry / I regret it
lit. “to-me it-seems bad” · clitic marks the experiencer: îți pare rău (you), îi pare rău (he/she)
se pare— it seems, apparently
lit. “it seems”
îmi pare bine— nice to meet you; I'm glad
lit. “to-me it-seems well” · greeting on first meeting; clitic marks the experiencer (îți pare bine, îi pare bine)
Corpus examples
.
I'm very sorry.