Breakdown of Zanim zniknął, ten znany lider okazał się kłamcą i oszustem.
i
and
ten
this (m)
znany
known
lider
leader
zanim
before
okazać się
to turn out (perf)
zniknąć
to disappear (perfective of znikać)
kłamca
liar
oszust
fraud (a person)
Questions & Answers about Zanim zniknął, ten znany lider okazał się kłamcą i oszustem.
Why are kłamcą and oszustem in the Instrumental case here?
They are in the Instrumental case because of the verb okazać się (to turn out to be). Just like być (to be) and stać się (to become), okazać się requires the noun or noun phrase describing the outcome to be in the Instrumental case.
Why do kłamcą and oszustem have different endings if they are both masculine nouns in the Instrumental case?
Because their base nominative forms have different endings. Oszust is a standard masculine noun ending in a consonant, so it takes the regular Instrumental ending -em (oszustem). However, kłamca ends in -a, meaning it declines like a feminine noun in the singular. That is why it takes the feminine Instrumental ending -ą (kłamcą).
Could I use the imperfective okazywał się instead of okazał się in this sentence?
It would sound unnatural here. We use the perfective okazał się because the realization that he was a fraud is treated as a completed, final outcome that occurred before he disappeared. The imperfective okazywał się would imply an ongoing, repeated, or incomplete process.
After zanim (before), why do we just use the standard past tense zniknął?
Polish does not use a past perfect tense (like the English had disappeared) in everyday speech. You simply use the standard past tense for both actions (zniknął and okazał się), and the word zanim naturally clarifies the chronological order of the events.
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