sembler

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French sembler, from Old French sembler, from Late Latin similāre, a verb based on Latin similis (“similar”). Doublet of simuler.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɑ̃.ble/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

sembler

1. (intransitive, impersonal) to seem, to resemble

   Il semblerait qu’il y ait des différences significatives entre les deux groupes.

   There would seem to be significant differences between the two groups.

2. (intransitive) to appear

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

Conjugation of sembler (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	sembler
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	semblant /sɑ̃.blɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		semblé /sɑ̃.ble/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	semble /sɑ̃bl/	sembles /sɑ̃bl/	semble /sɑ̃bl/	semblons /sɑ̃.blɔ̃/	semblez /sɑ̃.ble/	semblent /sɑ̃bl/
	imperfect	semblais /sɑ̃.blɛ/	semblais /sɑ̃.blɛ/	semblait /sɑ̃.blɛ/	semblions /sɑ̃.bli.jɔ̃/	sembliez /sɑ̃.bli.je/	semblaient /sɑ̃.blɛ/
	past historic2	semblai /sɑ̃.ble/	semblas /sɑ̃.bla/	sembla /sɑ̃.bla/	semblâmes /sɑ̃.blam/	semblâtes /sɑ̃.blat/	semblèrent /sɑ̃.blɛʁ/
	future	semblerai /sɑ̃.blə.ʁe/	sembleras /sɑ̃.blə.ʁa/	semblera /sɑ̃.blə.ʁa/	semblerons /sɑ̃.blə.ʁɔ̃/	semblerez /sɑ̃.blə.ʁe/	sembleront /sɑ̃.blə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	semblerais /sɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/	semblerais /sɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/	semblerait /sɑ̃.blə.ʁɛ/	semblerions /sɑ̃.blə.ʁjɔ̃/	sembleriez /sɑ̃.blə.ʁje/	sembleraient /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/	sembles /sɑ̃bl/	semble /sɑ̃bl/	semblions /sɑ̃.bli.jɔ̃/	sembliez /sɑ̃.bli.je/	semblent /sɑ̃bl/
	imperfect2	semblasse /sɑ̃.blas/	semblasses /sɑ̃.blas/	semblât /sɑ̃.bla/	semblassions /sɑ̃.bla.sjɔ̃/	semblassiez /sɑ̃.bla.sje/	semblassent /sɑ̃.blas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	semble /sɑ̃bl/	—	semblons /sɑ̃.blɔ̃/	semblez /sɑ̃.ble/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• bon lui semble
• ce me semble

Related terms

• ressembler
• semblable
• semblant
• vraisemblable

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: sanble
• Louisiana Creole: semble

Further reading

• “sembler”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French sembler.

Verb

sembler

1. to seem; to appear

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

infinitive	simple	sembler
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	semblant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		semblé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	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	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	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	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	semble	—	semblons	semblez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: sembler
  • Haitian Creole: sanble
  • Louisiana Creole: semble

Old French

Alternative forms

• senbler, sanbler, sambler

Etymology

From Late Latin similāre, a verb derived from Latin similis (“similar”).

Verb

sembler

1. to seem, to appear

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			gerund of avoir + 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	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + 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	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	semble	—	semblons	semblez	—

Derived terms

• resembler

Descendants

• Middle French: sembler
  • French: sembler
    • Haitian Creole: sanble
    • Louisiana Creole: semble
• Norman: semblier
• → Middle English: semblen
  • English: semble