krótszej

Krótszej is a grammatical form of the Polish adjective krótki, meaning short. It is not a standalone word but a declined form used to modify feminine nouns in specific cases. Specifically, krótszej is the genitive singular feminine, as well as the dative singular feminine and the locative singular feminine form of krótk- (the stem of krótki/krótka/krótkie).

When krótszej appears, the noun it describes must be feminine and in the corresponding case. For example:

- genitive: nie ma krótszej drogi (there is no shorter road)

- genitive with a preposition: z krótszej drogi (from a shorter road)

- locative: w krótszej drodze (in a shorter route)

In practice, krótszej commonly occurs in expressions comparing qualities relative to a feminine noun, but its exact function depends on the grammatical case required by the sentence. It cannot stand alone as a noun and does not carry a separate meaning beyond agreeing with the noun it modifies.

Related forms include krótsza (nominative feminine singular, used for the basic feminine form “shorter”) and krótsze (nominative/accusative neuter or plural forms). The full paradigm of the adjective krótki shows how endings change across gender, number, and case, with krótszej serving as one of the key feminine singular endings for certain cases.

Etymologically, krótszej derives from krótki, itself meaning short, and reflects standard Polish adjective inflection patterns. For learners, recognizing krótszej as a case-dependent feminine singular form helps in correctly matching adjectives to feminine nouns in varied syntactic contexts.