semi-auxiliary verb "paraître"

Question

I saw "paraître" followed by the past participle and not the infinitive in A Day In The Countryside.

"qui paraissaient occupés" was the answer while I had offered "qui paraissaient s'occuper"

Can you advise ?

Maarten Kamp · Accepted Answer

Brendan, 
this is past participle of ‘ occuper ‘ as adjective.
          ‘ (ils) paraissent occupés  ‘ ( try replacing with another adjective to confirm - grands/verts etc etc ).
As an adjective, the past participle agrees with the subject and is therefore plural ( qui replaces a plural noun and is the subject of ‘ paraître’ ).
 https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verbal/le-participe-passe-past-participle