il semblait

seemed, appeared

→ sembler
sembl to seem, to appear + ait he/she/it imperfect
verb · 3rd-person singular, imperfect tense Common #4,549
seemed, appeared
FR: Elle semblait heureuse.
EN: She seemed happy.
Conjugation of sembler
Indicative imperfect
SingularPlural
Third semblait semblaient

Personne ne semblait effrayé.

No one seemed scared.

Le concert semblait terminé.

The concert seemed to be over.

La porte semblait ouverte.

The door appeared to be open.

— Old Boy (2003)

Tom semblait blessé.

Tom looked hurt.

Ça semblait si bon marché.

It seemed so cheap.

Même le nom de l'établissement semblait choisi pour moi.

Even the name of the place seemed to have been chosen for me.

— Les Choristes (2004)

Tom semblait agité.

Tom seemed agitated.

Ça semblait aisé.

It seemed easy.

Cette situation semblait désespérée.

This situation seemed hopeless.

La maison semblait vide.

The house seemed empty.

Tout le monde semblait triste de voir Tom partir.

Everyone seemed sad to see Tom go.

Le camion de Dan semblait avoir disparu sans laisser de trace.

Dan's truck seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

Le programme télé semblait vraiment intéressant.

The TV program seemed really interesting.

Tom semblait savoir ce qu'il avait à faire.

Tom seemed to know what he had to do.

Tom semblait inquiet pour Marie.

Tom seemed worried about Mary.

Tom semblait si pauvre et si triste.

Tom looked so poor and sad.

Le cadavre que je dus bénir semblait celui d'un vieillard.

The corpse I had to bless appeared to belong to an old man.

— Le Ruban blanc (2009)

Personne d’autre ne semblait avoir faim.

No one else seemed hungry.

Tom semblait fâché.

Tom seemed angry.

Personne ne semblait l'avoir vu.

No one seemed to have seen him.

Tom semblait différent.

Tom seemed different.

Tom semblait être au début de la trentaine.

Tom looked to be in his early thirties.

Jack semblait en forme, bien que fatigué.

Jack seemed fine, although tired.

Tom semblait très excité.

Tom seemed very excited.

À la fête, Tom ne semblait connaître personne.

At the party, Tom didn’t seem to know anyone.

L'accident semblait avoir à faire avec la neige profonde.

The accident seemed to have something to do with the deep snow.

Au début, tout semblait difficile.

At first, everything seemed difficult.

Ça semblait si réel.

It seemed so real.

Sa voix semblait un peu déprimée.

His voice sounded a little depressed.

— Your Name. (2016)

Tom semblait fatigué.

Tom looked tired.

Tout semblait se dérouler au ralenti.

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

Semblait-il différent ?

Did he seem different?

— Un Soleil (2019)

La victoire semblait à portée.

Victory seemed within reach.

Son alibi semblait parfait.

His alibi seemed perfect.

Tout semblait normal et tranquille.

Everything seemed normal and peaceful.

— Divorce à l'italienne (1961)

Tom semblait perdu.

Tom looked lost.

Tom semblait avoir du succès.

Tom seemed to be having success.

Dan semblait être un suspect probable.

Dan seemed like a likely suspect.

Il ne lui semblait pas impossible de le retrouver.

It didn’t seem impossible to find him again.

Tom semblait nerveux.

Tom seemed nervous.

Tom semblait pétrifié.

Tom looked petrified.

Son alibi semblait être en béton.

His alibi seemed to be cast in stone.

Ce changement de cellule semblait l'avoir abattu.

This change of cell seemed to have crushed him.

Tom semblait un peu jaloux.

Tom seemed a little jealous.

Le plan de Tom semblait le meilleur.

Tom's plan seemed the best.

La victoire semblait possible jusqu'à la dernière minute.

Victory seemed possible until the very last minute.

Tout semblait parfait.

Everything seemed perfect.

Tout semblait en règle, mais je pourrais vérifier le lendemain.

Everything seemed to be in order, but I could check the next day.

Carl semblait très heureux.

Carl seemed very happy.

Cette jeune fille semblait attendre.

This young girl seemed to be waiting.

— Vacances à Venise (1955)

Ça semblait vrai.

It seemed true.

— Moulin Rouge ! (2001)

Oui, cela semblait étrange.

Yes, it seemed strange.

— L'Histoire personnelle de David Copperfield (2019)

Tom semblait déprimé.

Tom seemed depressed.

Personne ne semblait entendre.

No one seemed to hear.

As-tu déjà fait un rêve qui te semblait vrai ?

Have you ever had a dream that seemed real?

— Matrix (1999)

Tom semblait hésiter à embrasser Manon.

Tom seemed hesitant to kiss Manon.

C'est la seule qui semblait dangereuse.

She was the only one who seemed dangerous.

— Men in Black (1997)

Son âme semblait faite de bonne humeur et de bonne volonté.

His soul seemed to be made of good humor and good will.

Au début, cela semblait facile.

At first it seemed easy.

Le travail semblait assez simple, mais il m'a pris une semaine.

The work seemed fairly simple, but it took me a week.

Ce que vous avez découvert, au vu des faits, semblait impossible.

What you discovered, in light of the facts, seemed impossible.

— Reconnu coupable (2026)

Nous vîmes quelque chose qui semblait comme une oasis dans le désert.

We saw something that looked like an oasis in the desert.

Sa voix semblait énergique.

His voice sounded energetic.

— Psychose (1960)

Le robot semblait tellement vivant que c'était terrifiant.

The robot seemed so lifelike that it was terrifying.

Cela semblait personnel.

It seemed personal.

Sa demande de pardon semblait sincère.

His request for forgiveness seemed sincere.

La fille ne semblait lui prêter aucune attention.

The girl didn't seem to pay him any attention.

Tom semblait un peu surpris.

Tom seemed a little surprised.

Marie semblait avoir tout ce dont elle avait besoin.

Mary seemed to have everything she needed.

Cela semblait incroyable.

It seemed incredible.

Puis on rencontre un homme comme celui-ci, qui semblait être un brave homme.

Then we meet a man like this one, who seemed to be a good man.

— Il était une fois dans l'Ouest (1968)

La plaisanterie ne lui semblait pas mériter de tels accès de joie.

He didn't think the joke was worth such fits of laughter.

Rien ne semblait fonctionner.

Nothing seemed to work.

Le soleil brillait et le sable du désert semblait chaud.

The sun was shining and the desert sand felt warm.

Tom semblait vraiment fatigué.

Tom looked really tired.

Le port semblait désert.

The harbor seemed deserted.

Aucun des coéquipiers de Tom ne semblait l'apprécier beaucoup.

None of Tom's teammates seemed to like him very much.

Tom semblait heureux.

Tom seemed happy.

Ça semblait normal.

It seemed normal.

— Les Affranchis (1990)

Tout semblait possible.

Everything seemed possible.

— Don Juan DeMarco (1994)

Tom semblait être intimidé.

Tom seemed to be intimidated.

Il se réveilla le lendemain et se dit que sa chambre semblait différente.

He woke up the next day and thought his room looked different.

— It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012)

Mais avec le passage du temps, tout semblait aller en direction opposée.

But as time went by, everything seemed to be going in the opposite direction.

— Idiocracy (2006)

Mary semblait connaître tout le monde.

Mary seemed to know everyone.

Tom semblait déçu par la décision de Marie.

Tom seemed disappointed by Marie's decision.

Il ne vous semblait pas nerveux ?

Didn't he seem nervous to you?

— Ne le dis à personne (2006)

Dan semblait nerveux.

Dan looked nervous.

Loin des terres, semblait-il.

Far from land, it seemed.

Elle refusa de jouer avec la chose, s'assit tout simplement et semblait fâchée.

She refused to play with the thing, simply sat down, and seemed angry.

Sami semblait se sentir piégé.

Sami seemed to feel trapped.

L'immense immeuble semblait toucher le ciel.

The immense building seemed to touch the sky.

Jackson semblait se rétablir.

Jackson appeared to be recovering.

Je suis sûr que tu as fait ce qui te semblait être la chose à faire.

I'm sure you did what you felt was the right thing to do.

Il ne semblait donc plus rien rester à enquêter.

So there seemed to be nothing left to investigate.

Il a reconnu que ça semblait bizarre.

He admitted that it seemed strange.

Elle me fit un clin d’œil qui semblait signifier « je t'aime ».

She winked at me as if to say, “I love you.”

Tom semblait l'ignorer.

Tom seemed to be unaware of it.

Ce Dieu semblait fonctionner.

This god seemed to work.

— PK (2014)

Ça semblait probable.

It seemed likely.

La ville lui semblait autre, car il avait vieilli.

The city seemed different to him, because he had grown older.

Tom semblait savoir que Marie n'avait pas fait ce qu'elle était censée faire.

Tom seemed to know that Marie hadn't done what she was supposed to do.

Ce que je faisais semblait avoir un sens pour les gens.

What I was doing seemed to make sense to people.

— Forrest Gump (1994)

Ça semblait bon.

It seemed good.

— Princess Bride (1987)

Tout semblait se dérouler parfaitement.

Everything seemed to be going perfectly.

La dame semblait triste, et aussi fatiguée.

The lady looked sad, and also tired.