Ten problem wydał się trudny.

difficult

Breakdown of Ten problem wydał się trudny.

• problem: the problem
• ten: that
• wydać się: to seem

Questions & Answers about Ten problem wydał się trudny.

Why is ten used instead of to?

ten is the masculine nominative singular demonstrative. problem is a masculine noun, so ten must match its gender, number, and case. to would be used with neuter nouns.

What case and number is problem in, and how can you tell?

It’s in the nominative singular:

• Nominative because it’s the subject of the sentence.
• Singular because we’re referring to one problem.

What does wydał się mean, and how is the phrase constructed?

wydał się means “seemed” or “turned out to be.”
It’s formed from the perfective verb wydać się:

• wydał = 3rd person singular masculine past tense of the perfective verb.
• się = reflexive pronoun required by wydać się to convey “seem.”

Why is the verb in past tense and masculine form (wydał)?

In Polish, past-tense verbs agree with the subject’s gender and number.
Since problem is masculine singular, the past form is wydał (3rd person singular masculine).