Word
У нас есть новый источник, и это кажется нормой.
Meaning
We have a new source, and this seems to be the norm.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Questions & Answers about У нас есть новый источник, и это кажется нормой.
Why is the word for norm written as нормой and not just норма?
The verb казаться (to seem) requires the noun or adjective that describes the subject to be in the Instrumental case. Since норма is a feminine noun ending in -а, its Instrumental form is нормой.
We 'have' a new source, so shouldn't новый источник be in the accusative case as a direct object?
In Russian, the standard 'to have' construction (у [someone] есть [something]) literally translates to 'by [someone] there is [something]'. Because the thing you have is technically the grammatical subject of the sentence, новый источник stays in the Nominative case.
What is the subject of кажется in the second half of the sentence?
The pronoun это (this/it) acts as the subject of the second clause. Because это is neuter singular, the verb кажется takes the matching third-person singular form.
Why does кажется end in -ся?
казаться is a reflexive verb, historically formed from казать (to show). By adding the reflexive -ся ending, the literal meaning shifts from 'to show' to 'to show itself', which translates smoothly to English as 'to seem'.