Эта коллекция кажется интересной.

This collection seems interesting.

Breakdown of Эта коллекция кажется интересной.

• интересный: interesting
• этот: this
• казаться: to seem
• коллекция: the collection

Questions & Answers about Эта коллекция кажется интересной.

Why is it кажется, not something like a direct equivalent of “seems” in English?

Russian doesn’t have a completely separate “seems” verb that looks like the English word. The usual way to say “seems” is with the verb казаться.

• казаться = “to seem, to appear (to be)”
• кажется is the 3rd person singular present form: “(it) seems”

So Эта коллекция кажется интересной literally is “This collection seems (to be) interesting.” There isn’t a more “direct” separate word for “seems” – казаться is the standard one.

Why is интересной used, not интересная? Shouldn’t the adjective just agree with коллекция?

Normally, predicate adjectives after “to be” agree in the nominative:

• Эта коллекция интересная. – “This collection is interesting.”

But with verbs like казаться (“to seem”), Russian usually uses the instrumental case for the complement:

• кажется интересной – интересной is feminine singular instrumental.

Pattern:
[Subject in nominative] + казаться + [adjective in instrumental]

Examples:

• Он кажется усталым. – He seems tired. (усталым – masc. instr.)
• Она кажется довольной. – She seems satisfied. (довольной – fem. instr.)

So интересной is not a mistake; it’s required by кажется in this structure.

Can I say Эта коллекция кажется интересная with интересная in the nominative?

You will hear nominative with казаться, especially in colloquial speech, but:

• Instrumental (интересной) is the standard and preferred form in neutral/educated Russian.
• Nominative (интересная) can sound more casual or dialectal here and may be judged as less correct in careful writing/speech.

For learners, it’s best to stick with:
Эта коллекция кажется интересной.

What exactly does the reflexive ending -ся in кажется do here?

The -ся makes казаться a reflexive verb and changes its meaning compared to казывать (to show, to indicate – but that form is rare in modern speech).

• казаться = “to seem, to appear (to someone, in some way)”
• It often implies subjectivity: not an objective fact, but how something appears.

Compare:

• Он устал. – He is tired. (statement of fact)
• Он кажется усталым. – He seems tired. (how he appears)

So кажется here expresses a subjective impression, made softer by the reflexive verb.

Why is it Эта коллекция, not Эту коллекцию?

Эта and эту are both forms of “this,” but in different cases:

• эта – nominative feminine singular (used for the subject)
• эту – accusative feminine singular (used for the direct object)

In the sentence:

• Эта коллекция is the subject (the thing that seems interesting),
• so it must be in the nominative case: эта коллекция, not эту коллекцию.

What case is интересной, and how can I recognize it?

интересной here is feminine singular instrumental.

Feminine adjective endings (hard stem) to compare:

• Nominative: -ая (интересная)
• Genitive: -ой / -ей
• Dative: -ой / -ей
• Accusative: -ую
• Instrumental: -ой / -ей → here: интересной
• Prepositional: -ой / -ей

You know it’s instrumental because:

1. It follows казаться, which typically takes instrumental for the complement.
2. It describes what the subject seems to be (role/state), a common function of the instrumental case.

What is the difference between Эта коллекция интересная and Эта коллекция кажется интересной?

They are close, but not identical:

• Эта коллекция интересная.
  – Direct statement: “This collection is interesting.”
  – Sounds more objective and firm.

• Эта коллекция кажется интересной.
  – “This collection seems interesting.”
  – Suggests a subjective impression, some distance or uncertainty.
  – It can also sound softer/politer, less categorical.

So кажется adds nuance: you’re giving an opinion or an impression, not just a bare fact.

Can I add мне and say Мне эта коллекция кажется интересной? What changes?

Yes, that’s very natural:

• Мне эта коллекция кажется интересной.
  – “To me, this collection seems interesting.”

Adding мне:

1. Explicitly marks whose impression it is (mine).
2. Makes the sentence clearly subjective and can sound more polite or modest: you don’t claim universal truth, just your view.

Word order is flexible; these are also possible:

• Эта коллекция кажется мне интересной.
• Эта коллекция мне кажется интересной.

All are acceptable, with small emphasis shifts depending on what you highlight.

Could I say Эта коллекция выглядит интересной instead of кажется? What’s the difference?

You can say:

• Эта коллекция выглядит интересной. – “This collection looks interesting.”

Difference in nuance:

• кажется – broader: “seems, appears (in my opinion)”
  – can be based on many factors (description, context, reputation, etc.), not just visual.

• выглядит – specifically “looks” (visually appears)
  – focuses on what you see with your eyes.

So:

• If you mean “From what I know/feel, it seems interesting” → кажется.
• If you mean “Visually, it looks interesting” → выглядит.

What is the full conjugation of казаться in the present tense?

казаться (imperfective) – present tense:

• я кажусь – I seem
• ты кажешься – you (sg., informal) seem
• он / она / оно кажется – he / she / it seems
• мы кажемся – we seem
• вы кажетесь – you (pl. or formal) seem
• они кажутся – they seem

In the sentence Эта коллекция кажется интересной, коллекция is 3rd person singular, so you use кажется.

Is there a perfective form of казаться? How would that change the meaning?

Yes, the usual perfective partner is показаться.

• казаться – imperfective: “to seem” (general, ongoing impression)
• показаться – perfective: “to seem / appear (at some moment, start seeming)”

Examples:

• Эта коллекция показалась мне интересной.
  – “This collection seemed interesting to me (when I saw it / at first).”

Your original sentence is in the present, imperfective:

• Эта коллекция кажется интересной. – “This collection seems interesting.”

How would this sentence change in the plural: “These collections seem interesting”?

You need plural for both the noun, the pronoun, the verb, and the adjective:

• Эти коллекции кажутся интересными.

Breakdown:

• эти – plural “these”
• коллекции – plural nominative of коллекция
• кажутся – 3rd person plural of казаться
• интересными – plural instrumental of интересный

So the pattern stays the same; everything just agrees in the plural.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move things around, like Коллекция эта кажется интересной?

Russian word order is relatively flexible, but some options are much more natural.

Most neutral:

• Эта коллекция кажется интересной.

Also possible:

• Коллекция кажется интересной. – (if “this” is already known from context or unimportant)
• Эта коллекция интересной кажется. – grammatically possible but sounds marked/poetic or odd in everyday speech.
• Коллекция эта кажется интересной. – also sounds stylized, used for emphasis or special intonation.

For normal, neutral speech, stick with:
Эта коллекция кажется интересной.

How do you pronounce кажется and коллекция correctly?

кажется: кАжется

• Stress on the first syllable: КА-же-ца
• The unstressed е is pronounced like a reduced и/э; the ц is “ts”: KA-zhi-tsa (approx.)

коллекция: коллЕкция

• Stress on the second syllable: ко-ЛЕК-ци-я
• Double л is just a slightly longer l, often not very strongly doubled in casual speech.
• кция = roughly “k-tsi-ya”: ka-LYEK-tsi-ya (approx.)

So, roughly: КА-жы-ца and ка-ЛЕК-ци-я, with stress as marked.