Breakdown of Wydaje im się, że ten dom jest nawiedzony.
być
to be
dom
house
ten
this (m)
że
that
im
them (dative)
wydawać się
to seem
nawiedzony
haunted
Questions & Answers about Wydaje im się, że ten dom jest nawiedzony.
Why do we use im instead of oni (they) in this sentence?
The verb wydawać się (to seem) requires the person having the impression to take the Dative case. im is the Dative form of oni (or one), so the sentence literally works like "it seems to them".
Since im refers to a plural group, why is the verb Wydaje in the singular form instead of Wydają?
In this structure, the group of people is not the subject doing the action, but the recipient receiving the impression. The main clause is impersonal, meaning its subject is an invisible "it" (It seems to them...). Because of this, the verb must stay in the 3rd person singular form Wydaje.
Why is im placed right in the middle of Wydaje się?
Short pronouns like im and the reflexive word się do not carry their own voice stress. They naturally cluster together right after the first stressed word in the clause, which is Wydaje. It would sound unnatural to put them at the very end or beginning of the sentence.
Why is nawiedzony (haunted) in the Nominative case here?
After the conjunction że (that), a brand new clause starts with its own subject and verb. The subject of this second part is ten dom (this house), which is in the Nominative case. The word nawiedzony acts as an adjective describing the house, so it must match its case and gender (Nominative masculine).
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