Результат оказался хорошим.

The result turned out to be good.

Breakdown of Результат оказался хорошим.

• хороший: good
• оказаться: to turn out
• результат: the result

Questions & Answers about Результат оказался хорошим.

What does оказаться mean here, and how is it different from быть?

Оказаться literally means “to turn out (to be)” or “to prove to be,” whereas быть is the basic verb “to be.” Using оказаться adds a nuance of discovering or realizing the quality of something after the fact. So:

• Результат был хорошим → “The result was good” (simple statement of fact).
• Результат оказался хорошим → “The result turned out to be good” (you learn or realize that it’s good, perhaps unexpectedly).

Why is оказался in the past tense, masculine singular?

The verb оказаться is conjugated to agree with its subject результат, which is masculine singular. In the past tense, it takes gender and number endings:

• Masculine singular: оказался
• Feminine singular: оказалась
• Neuter singular: оказалось
• Plural (all genders): оказались

Why is хорошим in the instrumental case, not nominative?

After verbs like оказаться, when you say “to turn out (to be) something,” the complement (predicate adjective) takes the instrumental case. The pattern is:

subject (NOM) + оказаться + predicate (INSTR)

So хороший (nominative) becomes хорошим (instrumental) to match this construction.

Could you use хороший instead of хорошим here?

No. If you say Результат оказался хороший, it would be grammatically incorrect. Predicate adjectives after оказаться must be in instrumental case (хорошим), not nominative (хороший).

How would you make this sentence plural, talking about multiple results?

You change both subject and verb to plural, and keep the predicate in instrumental plural:

• Результаты (NOM, plural)
• оказались (past tense, plural)
• хорошими (instrumental plural of хороший)

Full sentence:
Результаты оказались хорошими.

Can you re-order the words as Оказался результат хорошим?

Yes, word order in Russian is relatively free. You can say Оказался результат хорошим, which emphasizes the verb first. However, the most neutral and common order is Результат оказался хорошим.

Is оказаться perfective or imperfective, and why is that important?

Оказаться is perfective. That means it views the action as a single completed event (“to turn out”). Its imperfective counterpart is оказываться, which would suggest an ongoing or repeated action. Here, perfective оказаться fits because you’re stating the final discovery of the result’s quality.

Can you drop результат and just say Оказалось хорошим?

Yes, if context makes it clear what you’re talking about. For example, after a discussion of several things you tried:

— Как был тест?
— Оказалось хорошим.

Here Оказалось хорошим implies “It (the test/result) turned out to be good,” even though результат is omitted.

Why isn’t there an article before результат?

Russian has no articles (no “the” or “a”). Nouns stand alone, and definiteness or indefiniteness is understood from context rather than explicit articles.

What is the stress pattern in результат and оказался?

• результат́: stress on the last syllable – re-zul-tat́.
• оказа́лся: stress on the second syllable – a-ka-zá-lsya.