Pewnej

Pewnej is a grammatical form of the Polish adjective pewny, meaning “certain,” “particular,” or “sure.” It is not a separate lexical item but a declined form used with feminine nouns. In particular, pewnej is the feminine singular genitive and dative form, and it commonly appears in phrases that express indefiniteness with a specific reference, such as “a certain person” or “some amount.”

Morphology and examples: Polish adjectives agree with gender, number, and case of the noun. For feminine singular nouns, the nominative form is pewna, while the genitive and dative singular form is pewnej. Because of this, pewnej occurs in many common constructions. Examples include: pewnej pomocy (of a certain help), z pewną osobą (with a certain person), po pewnej wpadce (after a certain blunder), and firmy pewnej firmy (of a certain company). The same base adjective yields a different form for masculine and neuter nouns and in other cases, but pewnej specifically marks feminine nouns in genitive or dative (and, in some prepositional phrases, locative).

Usage notes: pewnej conveys nuance beyond mere identification; it signals that the noun is definite but not fully specified or named. The form is frequent in formal and semi-formal writing as well as in everyday speech. It contrasts with pewna (nominative feminine), pewnego (masculine or neuter in genitive/accusative), and pewne (neuter or plural forms), which reflect different grammatical roles. In practice, pewnej helps articulate a precise yet unnamed referent in relation to the verb or preposition governing the case.