sembler
French
Etymology
From Middle French sembler, from Old French sambler, sembler, from Late Latin similāre, present active infinitive of similō, from Latin similis. Doublet of simuler.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɑ̃.ble/
audio (file)
Usage notes
- When the verb sembler is followed by the subordinating conjunction que, the following verb is in the subjunctive mood:
- Il semble qu'il pleuve
- However this is not the case when sembler is used affirmatively with an indirect object:
- Il me semble qu'il pleut
Conjugation
This verb is impersonal and is conjugated only in the third-person singular.
Conjugation of sembler (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| present participle | semblant /sɑ̃.blɑ̃/ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| past participle | semblé /sɑ̃.ble/ | ||||||
| infinitive | |||||||
| simple | sembler | ||||||
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| gerund1 | |||||||
| simple | semblant /sɑ̃.blɑ̃/ | ||||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | — | — | semble /sɑ̃bl/ |
— | — | — |
| imperfect | — | — | semblait /sɑ̃.blɛ/ |
— | — | — | |
| past historic2 | — | — | sembla /sɑ̃.bla/ |
— | — | — | |
| future | — | — | semblera /sɑ̃.blə.ʁa/ |
— | — | — | |
| conditional | — | — | semblerait /sɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/ |
— | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | — | — | semble /sɑ̃bl/ |
— | — | — |
| imperfect2 | — | — | semblât /sɑ̃.bla/ |
— | — | — | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 Only usable with preposition en. | |||||||
| 2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
Further reading
- “sembler” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French sembler.
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of sembler
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | sembler | avoir semblé | |||||
| gerund | en semblant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | semblant | ||||||
| past participle | semblé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (may be i' before a vowel) | tu | il | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | semble | sembles | semble | semblons | semblez | semblent |
| imperfect | semblois, sembloys | semblois, sembloys | sembloit, sembloyt | semblions, semblyons | sembliez, semblyez | sembloient, sembloyent | |
| past historic | sembla | semblas | sembla | semblasmes | semblastes | semblerent | |
| future | semblerai, sembleray | sembleras | semblera | semblerons | semblerez | sembleront | |
| conditional | semblerois, sembleroys | semblerois, sembleroys | sembleroit, sembleroyt | semblerions, sembleryons | sembleriez, sembleryez | sembleroient, sembleroyent | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie | que tu | qu'il | que nous | que vous | qu'ilz, qu'elles | |
| simple tenses |
present | semble | sembles | semble | semblons | semblez | semblent |
| imperfect | semblasse | semblasses | semblast | semblassions | semblassiez | semblassent | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nous | vous | – | |
| — | semble | — | semblons | semblez | — | ||
Old French
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of sembler (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | sembler | avoir semblé | |||||
| gerund | en semblant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | semblant | ||||||
| past participle | semblé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses |
present | semble | sembles | semble | semblons | semblez | semblent |
| imperfect | sembloie, sembleie, sembloe, sembleve | sembloies, sembleies, sembloes, sembleves | sembloit, sembleit, semblot, sembleve | sembliiens, sembliens | sembliiez, sembliez | sembloient, sembleient, sembloent, semblevent | |
| preterite | semblai | semblas | sembla | semblames | semblastes | semblerent | |
| future | semblerai | sembleras | semblera | semblerons | sembleroiz, semblereiz, semblerez | sembleront | |
| conditional | sembleroie, semblereie | sembleroies, semblereies | sembleroit, semblereit | sembleriiens, sembleriens | sembleriiez, sembleriez | sembleroient, semblereient | |
| compound tenses |
present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses |
present | semble | sembles | semble | semblons | semblez | semblent |
| imperfect | semblasse | semblasses | semblast | semblissons, semblissiens | semblissoiz, semblissez, semblissiez | semblassent | |
| compound tenses |
past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | semble | — | semblons | semblez | — | ||
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