il sembla

seemed

→ sembler
sembl to seem, to appear + a 3rd-person singular past
verb · 3rd-person singular, past tense Rare #28,300
seemed Literary past-tense form; everyday French usually uses « a semblé » or « semblait ».
FR: Il sembla fatigué après le travail.
EN: He seemed tired after work.
Conjugation of sembler
Indicative past
SingularPlural
Third sembla —

Il sembla soudain beaucoup plus détendu.

He suddenly seemed much more relaxed.

Ce qui me sembla être plusieurs jours plus tard, il y eut de la lumière dehors.

What seemed to me like several days later, it was light outside.

Il sembla surpris par cette nouvelle.

He seemed surprised by this news.

Il resta silencieux pendant ce qui me sembla une heure.

He was silent for what seemed like an hour.

Après des mois de recherche, le gouvernement britannique sembla toucher au but.

After months of searching, the British government seemed to be close to reaching its goal.

— Rang de Basanti (2006)

Au bout d’un moment, une voix sembla sortir du vaisseau lui-même.

After a while, a voice seemed to come from the ship itself.

Personne ne sembla particulièrement optimiste.

No one seemed particularly optimistic.

Elle sembla déçue du résultat.

She seemed disappointed with the result.

Il sembla trop bien pour être vrai.

It seemed too good to be true.

Tom sembla hésiter à embrasser Manon.

Tom seemed hesitant to kiss Manon.

Ensuite, il lui sembla sortir d'un profond sommeil.

Then it seemed to him that he was emerging from a deep sleep.

— Psychose (1960)

Tom sembla anxieux des résultats du test d'anglais.

Tom seemed anxious about the English test results.

Elle sembla indifférente.

She seemed indifferent.

Elle ne sembla pas me reconnaître.

She didn't seem to recognize me.