Breakdown of Wydaje mi się, że w tym nawiedzonym zamku jest duch.
być
to be
ten
this (m)
w
in / on (a day)
mi
to me
że
that
zamek
castle
wydawać się
to seem
nawiedzony
haunted
duch
ghost
Questions & Answers about Wydaje mi się, że w tym nawiedzonym zamku jest duch.
Why do we use mi in this sentence instead of ja or mnie?
The phrase wydaje mi się literally means "it seems to me". The person experiencing the impression is the indirect object, which means you must use the Dative case. mi is the short, unstressed Dative form of ja (I).
Who is the subject of wydaje? Why is it in the third-person singular?
There is no actual subject! This is an impersonal construction. In Polish, to say "it seems", you use the third-person singular verb wydaje with the reflexive pronoun się. You are essentially saying "it presents itself".
What case is the phrase w tym nawiedzonym zamku in, and why?
It is in the Locative case. The preposition w requires the Locative case when it describes a static location (being "in" or "inside" a place), so the pronoun ten, the adjective nawiedzony, and the noun zamek all take their Locative endings.
Why does the word zamek change to zamku in the Locative case rather than taking the typical -ie ending?
There are two things happening here. First, zamek has a "mobile e", which means the letter "e" disappears when you add an ending, leaving the stem zamk-. Second, masculine nouns ending in the letter -k take the -u ending in the Locative case to avoid creating an awkward sound.
Where does the word nawiedzonym come from?
It is the Locative masculine form of nawiedzony, which translates to "haunted". It is actually a passive participle formed from the perfective verb nawiedzić (to haunt or to visit), but it functions in this sentence exactly like a regular adjective.
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