English Translation
It seemed that he was fine.
Gemini seems really not a fan of the translation, but I don’t know if this is correct.
Gemini says:
"Il semblait bien aller" is not a correct translation.
The main issue is the word order and the choice of phrasing. In French, you generally don’t separate “aller” and “bien” in that specific way when talking about someone’s health or state.
Here is how to translate it correctly, depending on the nuance you want.
1. The Most Natural / Common Way
"Il avait l’air d’aller bien."
- Literal meaning: “He had the air of doing well.”
- Why: Avoir l’air is the most common way to say someone “looks” or “seems” a certain way. This implies you looked at him and he appeared healthy/okay.
2. The Direct “Seemed” Translation
"Il semblait aller bien."
- Correction: Notice the order is aller bien, not bien aller.
- Why: Sembler is slightly more formal/literary than avoir l’air. This is a perfect translation for “He seemed to be doing well.”
3. Capturing “It seemed that…” (The Observer’s Perspective)
If you want to keep the structure “It seemed that…” (implying you or a general observer thought so, rather than describing his look directly), use:
"On aurait dit qu’il allait bien."
- Literal meaning: “One would have said that he was doing well.”
- Why: This is the standard French idiom for “It looked like…” or “It seemed that…”