părea

See also: parea and pareá

Romanian

Etymology

Inherited from Latin pārēre, from Proto-Italic *pāzēō, from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-s- (“watch, see”), s-present of *peh₂- (“protect”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /pəˈre̯a/
Audio: (file)
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -a
Hyphenation: pă‧rea

Verb

a părea (third-person singular present pare or (obsolete or regional) paie, past participle părut) 2nd conjugation

(intransitive or reflexive, copulative or catenative) to look (to appear, to seem) [with dative ‘to whom’]
Synonym: arăta
(reflexive, impersonal, obsolete or regional) to be convenient, agreeable [with dative ‘to whom’]
(intransitive, very dated, uncommon) to exercise one’s authority, be imposing [until 20th c.]

Usage notes

The verb părea can be either reflexive or not, without any difference in sense. In modern Romanian, the choice is conditioned by the environment of the sentence, under the following rules:

Reflexive use is impossible in the first and second person; thus, “you seem to me” can only be îmi pari, and not mi te pari.
Reflexive use must be accompanied by a dative pronoun (to whom does it seem?) directly preceding the reflexive pronoun of the verb (and thus necessarily in the short form). The existence of the dative pronoun, however, does not imply the need for părea to be reflexive; thus, “The program seems good to us” can be translated as Programul ni se pare bun (with a reflexive verb) or Programul ne pare bun (without a reflexive verb). The sentence Programul se pare bun, which features a reflexive părea but no indirect object in the dative (“to us”), is incorrect.
As an exception to the previous, impersonal catenative constructions (“it seems that…”) can be reflexive even when no dative pronoun is present: pare că…, se pare că… . Impersonal copulative constructions, however, do not constitute an exception and, without a dative pronoun present, are necessarily intransitive as per the above: Pare frig afară (“It seems cold outside”). (Again, as a consequence of the previous point, the sentence would support a reflexive construction with the addition of a dative pronoun.)

When a choice exists between reflexive and intransitive use, the latter is somewhat stylistically elevated in comparision.

The preceding description applies to contemporary language; old texts may use a reflexive părea when modern Romanian wouldn’t.

Conjugation

conjugation of părea (second conjugation, past participle in -ut)

number		singular			plural
infinitive			a părea
gerund			părând
past participle			părut
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	par	pari	pare	părem	păreți	par
	imperfect	păream	păreai	părea	păream	păreați	păreau
	simple perfect	părui	păruși	păru	părurăm	părurăți	părură
	pluperfect	părusem	păruseși	păruse	păruserăm	păruserăți	păruseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
subjunctive	present	să par	să pari	să pară	să părem	să păreți	să pară
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		pari			păreți
	negative		nu părea			nu păreți