Формулировка вопроса оказалась непонятной.

Оказалась is the past tense of оказаться, which often means to turn out to be, to prove to be, or to end up being.

So:

• Формулировка вопроса была непонятной = The wording of the question was unclear
• Формулировка вопроса оказалась непонятной = The wording of the question turned out to be unclear

Using оказалась adds the idea of a result or discovery: at some point, it became clear that the wording was unclear.

Because it agrees with формулировка, which is a feminine noun.

• формулировка = feminine singular
• therefore the past tense verb must also be feminine singular:
  • оказался = masculine
  • оказалась = feminine
  • оказалось = neuter
  • оказались = plural

So the sentence is built around формулировка, not around вопроса.

Because формулировка вопроса means the wording/formulation of the question.

This is a very common noun + noun pattern in Russian, where the second noun is in the genitive to show a relationship similar to English of:

• формулировка вопроса = formulation/wording of the question
• ответ студента = answer of the student / the student’s answer
• начало урока = beginning of the lesson

So вопроса is genitive singular of вопрос.

After verbs like быть, стать, оказаться, Russian often uses the predicate noun or adjective in the instrumental case.

So:

• оказаться непонятным / непонятной / непонятной = to turn out to be unclear

Here непонятной agrees with формулировка:

• feminine
• singular
• instrumental

This is very normal after оказаться.

You may also see short-form predicates in other structures, but with оказаться the instrumental full form is very common and natural.

This version is much less natural than оказалась непонятной.

With оказаться, Russian strongly prefers the instrumental full form:

• оказалась непонятной = natural
• оказалась непонятна = unusual or awkward for most learners’ purposes

So if you are learning standard usage, use оказаться + instrumental.

Формулировка means wording, phrasing, or formulation.

In this sentence, it refers not to the question itself, but to the way the question was expressed.

So the meaning is closer to:

• The wording of the question turned out to be unclear
• not just The question was unclear

That distinction matters:

• Непонятным оказался вопрос = the question itself turned out to be unclear
• Непонятной оказалась формулировка вопроса = the problem was specifically the wording

Не- is the negative prefix, so:

• понятный = understandable, clear
• непонятный = unclear, incomprehensible, hard to understand

Here it simply negates the adjective.

Because the adjective is feminine singular instrumental, the full form becomes:

• непонятной

Yes. Russian word order is flexible.

This sentence could also be written as:

• Непонятной оказалась формулировка вопроса.
• Оказалась непонятной формулировка вопроса.

All of these are grammatical. The difference is mostly in emphasis.

• Формулировка вопроса оказалась непонятной.
  Neutral, straightforward.
• Непонятной оказалась формулировка вопроса.
  Puts more focus on unclear.
• Оказалась непонятной формулировка вопроса.
  Slightly more literary or dramatic in feel.

For most learners, the original order is the best neutral model.

It is fairly neutral but somewhat formal because of the noun формулировка.

You might hear it in:

• school or university contexts
• exams
• official communication
• discussions of instructions, tasks, or questionnaires

In more everyday speech, a person might say something simpler, for example:

• Вопрос был непонятно сформулирован. = The question was phrased unclearly.
• Вопрос был непонятный. = The question was unclear.
• Я не понял, как был сформулирован вопрос. = I didn’t understand how the question was worded.

So the original sentence is natural, but a bit more formal or analytical.

You can say that, but it means something slightly different.

• Вопрос оказался непонятным = The question turned out to be unclear
• Формулировка вопроса оказалась непонятной = The wording of the question turned out to be unclear

The second sentence is more precise. It suggests that the issue was not necessarily the content of the question, but the way it was phrased.

They are:

• формулировка = wording, formulation
• вопрос = question
• оказаться = to turn out to be
• непонятный = unclear, incomprehensible

Forms used in the sentence:

• формулировка — nominative singular
• вопроса — genitive singular
• оказалась — past tense, feminine singular
• непонятной — feminine singular instrumental

A useful literal breakdown is:

• Формулировка = formulation / wording
• вопроса = of the question
• оказалась = turned out to be
• непонятной = unclear

So, very literally:

The wording of the question turned out to be unclear.

That is both a good translation and a good grammatical reading of the Russian sentence.