niej

Niej is the locative singular form of the Polish personal pronoun ona, meaning “she.” It is used after prepositions to refer to a female antecedent. In Polish, feminine personal pronouns have several forms by case, such as nominative ona, genitive jej, dative jej, accusative ją, instrumental nią, and locative niej.

This form is specifically employed after prepositions that require the locative case, most commonly after o (about), w (in), and czasami po (after) or within phrases that use locative. It cannot stand alone and is not used as a possessive determiner; the possessive corresponding to she is jej.

Usage notes:

- O niej mówiono. (People talked about her.)

- Pamiętam o niej. (I remember/about her.)

- W niej tkwi siła. (There is strength in her / in her lies strength.)

Etymology and grammar:

- Niej derives from the feminine third-person pronoun ona and represents the locative case, one of Polish’s grammatical cases used after prepositions.

- The locative form is distinct from the other cases (e.g., jej in genitive/dative, ją in accusative, nią in instrumental) and serves a different syntactic function in sentences.

See also:

- Polish pronoun system

- Declension of personal pronouns in Polish

- Prepositions and their required cases in Polish

Niej is primarily encountered in written and spoken Polish when describing or referencing a feminine antecedent in locative contexts.