Meaning & use
appear
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To come into view or begin to be seen.
Grammar: No object: a rainbow appeared in the sky.
Patterns
- appear from something
- appear in something
Dark clouds appeared on the horizon just before noon.
A message appeared on my screen and then vanished.
Small green shoots appear in the garden every March.
verblinking
To give the impression of being a certain way; to seem.
Grammar: Followed by an adjective or to-infinitive: she appears calm; he appears to be lost.
Patterns
- appear to be something
- appear to do something
- it appears that something
The house appeared empty, but a light was on upstairs.
It appears that the meeting has been postponed.
He appears to enjoy his new job.
verbintransitive
To take part publicly, for example in a performance, show, film or court case.
Grammar: Often takes in, on or before: she appears in two films.
Patterns
- appear in something
- appear on something
- appear before someone
The singer will appear on stage at nine o'clock.
He appeared before the judge on Monday morning.
She has appeared in several television series.
verbintransitive
To be published, printed or made available for the first time.
Grammar: Used for texts and products: the article appeared last week.
Patterns
- appear in something
Her first poem appeared in a school magazine.
New phone models appear every autumn.
The story appeared in all the major newspapers.
Word forms
| third person singular | appears |
|---|---|
| past tense | appeared |
| past participle | appeared |
| -ing form | appearing |
Common combinations
- appear out of nowhere
- The cat appeared out of nowhere and jumped on my lap.
- appear to be
- The road appears to be closed.
- appear in court
- The driver must appear in court next month.
- suddenly appear
- A face suddenly appeared at the window.
- appear on television
- She appears on television every Sunday.
Synonyms and how they differ
- seem
- Seem only covers the 'give an impression' sense and sounds more personal, while appear can also mean become visible.
- emerge
- Emerge suggests coming out from somewhere hidden, while appear says only that something is now visible.
- turn up
- Turn up is informal and suggests arriving, often unexpectedly, while appear is neutral.
- look
- Look is the everyday way to say how something seems to the eye, but it is less formal in 'it appears that' structures.
Opposites
Word family
- appearance noun
- the act of appearing, or how someone looks
- apparent adjective
- clearly visible, or seeming to be true
- apparently adverb
- as it seems or is said
- reappear verb
- to appear again
- disappear verb
- to stop being visible
Commonly confused: appear or apparent?
appear vs apparent
Appear is a verb; apparent is the adjective. Apparent can mean obvious or only seeming, so context matters.
Practice
Choose the sentence in which appear means seem.
Choose one answer.
Appears to be cold gives an impression, so it means seem. In the other sentences appear means become visible, perform or be published.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “appear”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.