Breakdown of Кажется, дождь вот-вот начнётся.
Questions & Answers about Кажется, дождь вот-вот начнётся.
Here Кажется is an impersonal word meaning something like it seems, apparently, or looks like.
It comes from the verb казаться meaning to seem / to appear.
In this sentence, it does not need an explicit subject. Russian often says simply Кажется, ... where English would usually say It seems ...
A related fuller version is:
- Мне кажется, дождь вот-вот начнётся. = It seems to me that the rain is about to start.
So Кажется here adds uncertainty or personal impression.
Because Кажется is being used as a parenthetical introductory word, not as the main verb of the sentence.
It functions like apparently or it seems in English, commenting on the whole statement. In Russian, such introductory words are often separated by commas.
So:
- Кажется, дождь вот-вот начнётся.
means something like:
- It seems, the rain is about to start
- more naturally in English: It seems the rain is about to start
If казаться were used as a normal verb inside the sentence, the punctuation would be different.