Word
Wydaje mi się, że moje odbicie w wodzie to tylko złudzenie.
Meaning
It seems to me that my reflection in the water is just an illusion.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Wydaje mi się, że moje odbicie w wodzie to tylko złudzenie.
woda
water
mój
my
w
in / on (a day)
tylko
only
Questions & Answers about Wydaje mi się, że moje odbicie w wodzie to tylko złudzenie.
Why do we use mi instead of ja with wydaje się?
In Polish, expressing an impression like 'it seems to me' uses an impersonal construction. The verb wydawać się (to seem) takes the 3rd person singular form (wydaje się = it seems), and the person experiencing the impression is put in the Dative case (mi = to me). You aren't actively doing an action; rather, the impression is happening to you.
Why is mi placed between wydaje and się?
Short pronouns like mi and się like to huddle together after the first stressed word in a clause, which is usually the verb (wydaje). Placing mi between the verb and się is the most natural, common word order. If you wanted to emphasize 'to me' (as opposed to someone else), you would use the long-form Dative pronoun and move it to the end: wydaje się mnie.
Why does the sentence use to for 'is' instead of jest?
The word to can act as an 'equals sign' connecting two nouns in the Nominative case (here, odbicie = złudzenie). If you used jest, the second noun would have to change into the Instrumental case: ...że moje odbicie w wodzie jest tylko złudzeniem. Both ways are perfectly correct and mean the same thing, but using to is a handy way to keep both nouns in their basic dictionary forms.
Why does the word woda change to wodzie here?