Breakdown of Он казался лидером, когда был один.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
быть
to be
когда
when
казаться
to seem
один
alone
лидер
leader
Questions & Answers about Он казался лидером, когда был один.
Why is the word for leader in the Instrumental case (лидером)?
The verb казаться (to seem) requires the noun or adjective describing the subject to be in the Instrumental case. Just like the formal verb являться (to be), it connects a subject to a state or role. Therefore, the nominative лидер must change to the Instrumental лидером.
If the English translation says "seemed like a leader", why isn't there a word for "like" (such as как) in the Russian sentence?
In Russian, the combination of the verb казаться and the Instrumental case already contains the meaning of "to seem to be" or "to seem like." Adding a comparative word like как here would be unnatural and grammatically incorrect.
Why is казался used here instead of казалось?
In this sentence, the verb has a specific masculine subject: Он (He), so the verb takes the masculine past tense form казался. You usually see the neuter form казалось used impersonally, meaning "it seemed" (for example, Казалось, что... meaning "It seemed that...").
Since был is in the past tense, why is один in the Nominative case rather than the Instrumental (одним)?
While the past tense of быть (to be) often triggers the Instrumental case for temporary states or professions, the word один (meaning "alone" in this context) is an exception. It almost always stays in the Nominative case after быть.
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