Breakdown of Często okazuje się, że powszechna opinia to bzdura.
często
often
to
is (linking copula)
że
that
opinia
the opinion
Questions & Answers about Często okazuje się, że powszechna opinia to bzdura.
Why do we use the imperfective okazuje się here instead of the perfective okaże się?
The word często (often) tells us this is a repeated action or a general truth. For ongoing or repeated realizations, we use the imperfective okazywać się (here as okazuje się). If it were a single, specific event that just concluded, we would use the perfective okazać się.
Where would I add a Dative experiencer if I wanted to say it turns out 'for us'?
You would add the Dative pronoun nam right after the verb: Często okazuje nam się, że.... The sentence currently omits the experiencer, which is a common way to state that something turns out to be true for everyone in general.
Why does this sentence use to instead of jest for 'is'?
When linking two nouns in an 'A is B' sentence, you have two options. You can use jest and put the second noun in the Instrumental case (powszechna opinia jest bzdurą), or you can use to and keep both nouns in their basic Nominative case (powszechna opinia to bzdura). The to structure is very common and natural for direct definitions.
How strong of a word is bzdura?
It is informal and expressive, but not a swear word. It is a great everyday equivalent for 'nonsense' or 'rubbish.' It is perfectly fine for daily conversation, though you would likely avoid it in highly formal or academic writing.