Breakdown of Мне кажется, что он прав.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
я
I
что
that (conjunction)
прав
right, correct (as in "you are right")
казаться
to seem
Questions & Answers about Мне кажется, что он прав.
Why do we use мне instead of я here?
The verb казаться (to seem) is often used in this kind of impersonal construction. Instead of saying I think, the literal meaning is it seems to me. Because the person is the receiver of the impression, we use the Dative case pronoun мне.
Why does the verb кажется end in -ся?
The -ся ending makes the verb reflexive. The base verb means to show, so adding -ся gives the idea of to show itself or to seem. It is in the third-person singular form here because the sentence is literally saying It seems.
What kind of word is прав and why doesn't it end in -ый?
The word прав is a short-form adjective. When you want to say that someone is correct or right about something, you always use the short form rather than the regular long form. Because он (he) is masculine, we use the masculine short form прав.
How would the sentence change if a woman was right?
You would change the pronoun to она (she) and the short-form adjective to the feminine form права. The second part of the sentence would become: что она права.
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