How to say “seem” in 32 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- parece/paˈɾeθe/ Spanish
- 好像/xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹/ Chinese
- लगता/ləɡ.t̪ɑː/ Hindi
- φαίνεται/ˈfeneˌte/ Greek
- թվալ/tʰəˈvɑl/ Armenian
- కనిపిస్తుంది/ˈkaniˌpistundi/ Telugu
“seem” in Spanish: parece · French: semble · Italian: sembra · Portuguese: parece · Chinese: 好像 · Hindi: लगता · Greek: φαίνεται
It is commonest in Hindi, where लगता is the 63rd most used word.
Seem in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian duket/dukɛt/ to seem, appear, look #98
- Arabic طاب/tˤaːba/ to seem suitable, to remit, to do well #1,273
- Armenian թվալ/tʰəˈvɑl/ to seem, appear #1,602
- Basque iruditu/iɾuditu/ to seem #514
- Bosnian izgledati/izɡlěːdati/ to seem, appear #1,716
- Catalan sembla[ˈsɛm.blə] to seem, look #140
- Chinese 好像/xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹/ to seem; to be like; as if #78
- Croatian izgledati/izɡlěːdati/ to seem, appear #1,412
- Czech zdá[ˈzdaː] to seem #495
- Dutch lijkt/ˈlɛɪkt/ to seem, appear #248
- Esperanto ŝajnas/ˈʃai̯nas/ to seem; to look outwardly; to look #217
- French semble/ˈsɑ̃bl/ to seem, to resemble, to look like #500
- Galician parece/paˈɾeθe/ to seem, appear #228
- Georgian ეტყობა[e̞tʼχʼo̞bä] to appear, to seem #1,387
- German aussieht/ˈaʊsˌziːt/ to look, seem #1,355
- Greek φαίνεται/ˈfeneˌte/ to seem, appear #184
- Hindi लगता/ləɡ.t̪ɑː/ to seem, appear #63
- Icelandic virðast/ˈvɪrðast/ to seem, look like, to appear to be #2,338
- Indonesian terkesan/tərkəˈsan/ to give the impression of, to seem #1,798
- Italian sembra/ˈsem.bra/ to seem, to look, to appear #174
- Latvian šķiet/ˈʃciet/ to seem #153
- Lithuanian atrodyti/ɐˈtroːdiːtɪ/ to appear, seem, look #1,132
- Macedonian изгледа[ˈizɡlɛda] to look, appear, seem #122
- Malay kelihatan/kəliˈhatan/ to look; to appear; to seem #330
- Norwegian synes/ˈsyːˌneːs/ to appear, seem #362
- Portuguese parece/paˈɾɛ.si/ to seem #147
- Russian выглядеть[ˈvɨɡlʲɪdʲɪtʲ] to look, to appear, to seem #1,759
- Serbian izgledati/izɡlěːdati/ to seem, appear #1,994
- Spanish parece/paˈɾeθe/ to seem, to see fit #144
- Telugu కనిపిస్తుంది/ˈkaniˌpistundi/ to seem, appear, be seen, be visible, come or… #182
- Urdu لگے/lə.ɡeː/ to seem, to appear #542
- Vietnamese dường[zɨəŋ˨˩] to seem; to appear #1,350
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0) and Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.