odjecha

Odjecha is a term most commonly encountered as the stem odjecha- of the Polish verb odjechać, meaning to depart or to leave by vehicle. In standard Polish, odjechać is the infinitive form and odjecha- appears in the various conjugated forms that express completed departure, while the standalone form odjecha is not used as a separate dictionary entry. The past tense forms are odjechał (masculine), odjechała (feminine), and odjechało (neuter), with appropriate forms for plural subjects.

Etymology and formation: The word is built from the prefix od- meaning away, combined with the verb jechać, “to go by vehicle.” This is a productive pattern in Polish for signaling the start or completion of an action of moving away.

Usage: Odjechać is used in narrative, reporting, and everyday speech to indicate that someone or something left a place by means of transport. For example, sentences such as On odjechał z miasta or Ona odjechała samochodem illustrate the action of departing. The stem odjecha- also appears in related inflected forms and participial constructions, though the verb itself is typically used in its full infinitive form in standard writing.

Relationship to other forms: The imperfective counterpart is odjeżdżać, which expresses ongoing or repeated departures (as in “he is leaving” or “they were leaving”). The noun associated with departure is odjazd.

See also: odjeżdżać; odjazd.

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