Word
Wydaje ci się, że słyszysz cichy szept?
Meaning
Does it seem to you that you hear a quiet whisper?
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about Wydaje ci się, że słyszysz cichy szept?
Why is the verb wydaje in the "it" form instead of the "you" form?
In Polish, expressing an impression like "it seems to you" uses an impersonal structure. The verb wydawać się stays in the third-person singular (wydaje - "it seems"), and the person experiencing the feeling is in the Dative case (ci - "to you").
Could I say "Wydaje się ci" instead of "Wydaje ci się"?
It sounds much better to say Wydaje ci się. Both ci and się are short, unstressed pronouns. When multiple short pronouns group together after a verb, the Dative pronoun (ci) usually comes before the reflexive pronoun (się).
Why does cichy szept look like it is in the Nominative (dictionary) form?
It is actually in the Accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb słyszysz (you hear). However, for masculine inanimate nouns like szept (whisper) and their adjectives, the Accusative form is identical to the Nominative form.
What is the difference between wydawać się and just wydawać without się?
Adding się changes the meaning completely. While wydawać się means "to seem" or "to appear", the verb wydawać on its own usually means "to spend" (like money) or "to issue" (like a document or a sound).