parecerse a
/paɾeθeɾse a/from spelling rules
To look like in Spanish is parecerse a.
parecerse a is used to describe having a similar physical appearance or characteristic to another person or thing.
Which one should you use?
The verb parecer (without the reflexive se) means 'to seem' or 'to appear', such as in 'Parece difícil' (It seems difficult). In contrast, parecerse a is used specifically when expressing resemblance between two entities.
How does it change in a sentence?
parecerse a is a pronominal verb, which means you must include a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) to express resemblance. Additionally, when indicating what someone or something looks like, the verb must be followed by the preposition a.
How do you pronounce it?
/paɾeθeɾse a/
Did you know?
- To describe two people who are identical twins or indistinguishable, speakers often bypass parecerse a entirely and use ser como dos gotas de agua, meaning 'to be like two drops of water'.
- If you want to say someone is the absolute spitting image of someone else, you can use the idiomatic expression ser el vivo retrato de, which translates to 'to be the living portrait of'.
- While parecerse a is used for resemblance, the verb parecer is also used to ask for an opinion, such as ¿Qué te parece?, which translates to 'What do you think of it?'
Examples in context
- El sitio empezó a parecerse a un pueblo fantasma.The place started to look like a ghost town.This sentence shows how to use parecerse a to describe a place starting to resemble a ghost town.Tatoeba #9996501 by manufrutos, translation #9995469 by Amastan
- Tatoeba empieza a parecerse a una de las bibliotecas laberínticas de Borges.Tatoeba is starting to look like one of Borges' labyrinthine libraries.This sentence shows how to use parecerse a to describe something starting to look like a labyrinthine library.Tatoeba #733803 by darinmex, translation #733801 by darinmex
- El coche parece nuevo.The car looks new.
- Esa famosa tiene apariencia de modelo.That celebrity looks like a model.
- Te pareces a tu hermana.You look like your sister.
- Juan es igual que su padre.Juan looks just like his father.
- Te pareces mucho a tu padre.You look a lot like your father.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
