The phrase "a friend was appearing" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where you are describing a situation in which a friend is becoming visible or is in the process of showing up.
Example: "As the sun began to set, a friend was appearing at the edge of the park, waving excitedly."
Alternatives: "a friend was showing up" or "a friend was arriving".
If a friend is appearing with you, consider getting ready together.
No other images but those of him and his friend were appearing there, Alcine said.
One evening, together with a friend whose brother was appearing in a talent contest, he visited a music hall for the first time and quickly became "hooked" on the idea of being able to perform.
A friend of mine who was appearing in a play at London's BAC was dismayed to hear a voice in the audience saying "Oh no, not him, he's terrible" when he entered the stage.
He posted photographs of himself with his friends, and Nike adverts he was appearing in.
There is usually a personal reason driving my choices at this time: Terry Eagleton gave the first lecture I attended at Oxford; a friend of mine is appearing in Pinter's "Old Times" this month; another friend of mine is quite rightly obsessed with Alice Munro.. . .
DiMarco tweeted Sunday that a close friend's brother would be appearing in the film, and the 29-year-old "America's Next Top Model" and "Dancing With the Stars" winner was excited to see "more deaf actors/representation & ASL inclusion in films".
6.29pm GMT Meanwhile, David Wildstein, Christie's former man (but not close friend) at the Port Authority, is appearing before a New Jersey state committee to testify on the lane closures.
Who is he? (I'll get the disclosure out of the way first: he's a friend of mine. He's appeared on my film podcast, and for the past two years we've served together on the board of the Australian Film Critics Association).
Valery Gergiev, the conductor and Putin's friend, was supposed to appear with a symphony orchestra inside a "chandelier" as large as a five-story building — a "kinetic sculpture".
