Breakdown of Он кажется человеком выдающегося ума.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
человек
person
казаться
to seem
ум
mind, intellect
Questions & Answers about Он кажется человеком выдающегося ума.
Why do we use the genitive case for выдающегося ума?
This is the genitive of qualitative description, the focus of your current lesson. It describes an inherent, permanent characteristic of a noun. In English, this often maps to using "of" (a person of outstanding intelligence). Notice that the descriptive phrase must include both an adjective (выдающегося) and a noun (ума).
Could I say человеком с выдающимся умом instead?
Yes, using с plus the instrumental case is grammatically correct and means almost the same thing (a person with an outstanding mind). However, the genitive of description (выдающегося ума) sounds more formal and literary, emphasizing that this intelligence is a core, intrinsic trait.
Why is the main noun человеком in the instrumental case?
The verb казаться (to seem or to appear) requires its complement to be in the instrumental case. Because the sentence says "he seems to be a person," the nominative noun человек must change to the instrumental человеком.
What is the root of the adjective выдающегося?
It comes from the verb выдаваться, which means to stand out. The dictionary form выдающийся is technically a present active participle meaning "standing out," but it is used as a standard adjective meaning "outstanding" or "prominent." Here, it takes the masculine singular genitive ending to agree with ума.