Cette leçon a l'air très instructive!

In this lesson, we'll introduce three different ways of saying "to look like" in French. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The first expression is ressembler à, which looks a lot like the English word "resemble" (but note the extra s) and is used in much the same way: 

 

Chacun de tes gestes ressemble aux miens

Each of your gestures looks like mine

Caption 2, Ina-Ich - Âme armée

 Play Caption

 

Ressembler is always followed by à, except when à is replaced by an indirect object pronoun: 

 

Elle me ressemble.

She looks like me.

Caption 31, Le saviez-vous? - La conjugaison au présent, au passé et au futur

 Play Caption

 

The second expression, avoir l'air de, is more informal and figurative than ressembler à. Its literal translation is "to have the air/appearance of," but it generally means "to look like" or "to seem": 

 

Tu n'as pas l'air de trouver ça suffisant, Psi.

You don't seem to think that's sufficient, Psi.

Caption 41, Il était une fois... L’Espace - 6. La révolte des robots

 Play Caption

 

Ce chien a l'air d'un loup. 
That dog looks like a wolf.

 

When the expression is in front of an adjective, the de is dropped: 

 

Ça a l'air délicieux, mais j'ai des crampes à l'estomac, je peux rien avaler.

It looks delicious, but I have stomach cramps, I can't swallow anything.

 

Avoir l'air (de) can often be replaced with the verb sembler (to seem): 

 

Tu ne sembles pas trouver ça suffisant, Psi. 
You don't seem to think that's sufficient, Psi. 

 

Ça semble délicieux, mais j'ai des crampes à l'estomac, je peux rien avaler.
It looks delicious, but I have stomach cramps, I can't swallow anything.

 

Finally, there's on dirait, which literally means "one would say," but is often used idiomatically to mean "it looks like":  

 

À première vue, on dirait une pharmacie, mais non...

At first glance, it looks like a pharmacy, but no...

Caption 1, Le Journal - Chocolats

 Play Caption

 

On dirait qu'il va neiger. 
It looks like it's going to snow. 

 

The main difference between these expressions is that ressembler à is only used to compare similar things, whereas avoir l'air de/sembler and on dirait can also be used to convey an impression of something. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

We hope this lesson lived up to its title! Feel free to tweet us @yabla or send your topic suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

A ti también te puede gustar