Breakdown of Ze schijnt iets vreselijks op te biechten.
iets
something
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
te
to (infinitive marker)
schijnen
to seem / be said to (hearsay)
vreselijk
awful, dreadful
opbiechten
to confess (a secret or sin)
Questions & Answers about Ze schijnt iets vreselijks op te biechten.
Why does vreselijk get an extra -s at the end?
When an adjective follows indefinite pronouns like iets (something), niets (nothing), or veel (much), it takes an -s ending. This is known as the partitive s, making iets vreselijks translate to "something terrible."
Why is te placed right in the middle of opbiechten?
Opbiechten (to confess) is a separable verb. When a separable verb requires te (which is triggered here by the verb schijnen earlier in the sentence), the te squeezes directly between the separable prefix (op) and the base verb (biechten), giving us op te biechten.
How does the verb schijnen mean "seems" here?
While schijnen on its own literally means "to shine" (like the sun), the grammatical structure schijnen te + infinitive is a standard phrasing that means "to seem to" or "to appear to."
What is the difference between schijnen te and lijken te in this context?
They are very similar and both translate to "seems to." However, lijken te is typically based on your own direct visual observation (she looks like she is confessing right now), while schijnen te often implies you have gathered this information indirectly or through hearsay (it appears or is rumored that she is confessing).
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