adultului

Adultului is the genitive/dative singular form of the Romanian noun adult, formed by adding the definite article to the stem. It expresses meanings such as “of the adult” or “to the adult” within a noun phrase. The base noun adult denotes a person who has reached the age of majority, typically 18 years or older, depending on legal context. The form is masculine; its use follows standard Romanian inflection for nouns when the definite article is attached, yielding adultul in the definite nominative and adultului in the genitive/dative singular.

Etymology and grammar: The noun adult derives from Latin adultus (grown up). In Romanian, it was borrowed and integrated into the noun class system, where the definite article is suffixed to the noun. For masculine singular nouns, the genitive/dative singular ending is -ului, producing adultului for forms like “of the adult” or “to the adult.” The corresponding definite nominative form is adultul (the adult).

Usage: The form appears in possessive constructions or with prepositions that govern the genitive or dative. Examples include: “Cartea adultului este pe masă” (The adult’s book is on the table) and “Ghidul este dedicat adultului” (The guide is dedicated to the adult). In everyday speech, the same relationship can sometimes be expressed with alternative constructions, but adultului remains the standard genitive/dative singular form of adult when a definite article is present.

See also: adult, Romanian grammar, noun declension, genitive and dative cases.